tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/brisbane-6366/articlesBrisbane – The Conversation2017-10-05T19:04:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847052017-10-05T19:04:53Z2017-10-05T19:04:53ZUnderground in Brisvegas: can an electronic dance music artist thrive outside the city?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188903/original/file-20171005-21985-3e3n9z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heidi Mellington, performing here with Anthony Smith in Dizzygothica in 2007, has spoken about the importance of a supportive local music scene for emerging artists. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/felix42/526232463/in/photolist-HfJ9h-NshbF-NrQAS-Nv5zv-Nsgta-Hkwe8">Rachel Cobcroft/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electronic dance music (EDM) is an increasingly popular music genre. Electronic music can be defined as a sound dominated by electronic instruments and digitally generated sounds and also by digital samples of vocals and conventional instruments. </p>
<p>Despite the emergence of new communication technologies for music production and dissemination, it is still essential for EDM artists to be part of a local music scene. </p>
<p>Emerging artists typically depend heavily on the contacts and resources that they can find in their local city. The nature and scale of the truly global music industry appear not to have changed this relationship between EDM artists and their local music scene. </p>
<p>And the global electronic music industry is big. According to the latest <a href="http://www.internationalmusicsummit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/IMS-Business-Report-2017-vFinal3.pdf">IMS business report</a>, the industry’s annual value has reached US$7.4 billion. <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/music/various-artists-3149-1256022">NME reports</a> that the three wealthiest DJs are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti%C3%ABsto">Tiesto</a> (Netherlands), <a href="https://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/reader/daft-punk/">Daft Punk</a> (France) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Oakenfold">Paul Okenfoald</a> (England). </p>
<p>DJ Tiesto is asking for US$250,000 per DJ set. Daft Punk, the duo who pioneered French house in the 1990s, are worth US$120 million in licensing deals, royalties, music sales and merchandise. Their value increased after the success of their fourth album, Random Memories, which has sold more than 3.2 million copies worldwide. </p>
<p>EDM artists, unlike the most famous DJs, belong to local alternative scenes as is the case in Brisbane. Those scenes can be labelled as underground. According to the semi-structured interviews performed for my research, the electronic scene in Brisbane started as a DIY alternative scene.</p>
<p>In Brisbane, the rock and punk scenes have been documented in books like <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/pig-city-revisited-brisbane-writer-andrew-stafford-updates-tome-on-music-and-politics-20140731-zvozq.html">Pig City</a>. In contrast, the electronic scene in Brisbane is rather unknown, yet it gathered more than 200 artists between 1979 and 2014. This has been documented in <a href="https://transcomblog.wordpress.com/bne-project/">BNE: The Definitive Archive</a>, released by Dennis Bremmer, founder of independent music label <a href="https://transcomblog.wordpress.com/">Trans:Com</a>. </p>
<h2>If music is global, why does local still matter?</h2>
<p>Emerging artists need to engage with the technology and to have access to mentoring and technical advice. It’s a point made by Heidi Mellington, who joined the scene in the early 2000s: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Being in a city gives you access to mentors that have been trained and know how to use the latest sofwares.</p>
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<p>She was part of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ladyelectronicamusic/">Lady Electronica</a>, a collective of female artists, and of darkwave electronica duo <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Dizzygotheca-36820469496/">Dizzygotheca</a> <a href="https://myspace.com/dizzygotheca">with Anthony Smith</a> (2005-2010). </p>
<p>Most musicians interviewed for my research were interested in creating experimental edgy music. The aim was not necessarily to become successful, but to remain underground. </p>
<p>Brisbane’s electronic sound can be labelled as “electronic fusion”. It’s a blend of hip-hop, funk, drum and bass and sometimes goth music, according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/porl.deville">Porl Deville</a>, who was part of successful acts such as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/My-Ninja-Lover-191960194216271/about/?ref=page_internal">My Ninja Lover</a>, who opened for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Harper">Ben Harper</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamiroquai">Jamiroquai</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby">Moby</a> in the mid-1990s. </p>
<p>Local radio stations such 4ZZZ or Triple J helped artists to have their electronic dance music tracks played. In Brisbane, venues like <a href="http://thezoo.com.au/">The Zoo</a>, <a href="http://ricsbar.com.au/">Ric’s Cafe Bar</a> and The Lofly Hangar – a meeting place for the independent music community; it <a href="http://messandnoise.com/features/4165093">no longer exists</a> – welcomed EDM artists. </p>
<p>These artists still need to be engaged in the economic and social networks that are found in metropolitan areas. This helps them to access technical advice, mentoring and grants (to fund music videos). </p>
<p>Even if Facebook and Soundcloud are fantastic tools for self-promotion, location is important. It remains an asset for a young EDM artist to be located in a city. It’s there that they have access to the best equipment and can learn about software tricks and production, mixing and mastering tips from experienced mentors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84705/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastien Darchen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Depite new technologies for music dissimination, EDM artists located in cities have access to resources not available in non-metropolitan areas.Sebastien Darchen, Lecturer in Planning, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/834362017-09-24T20:03:44Z2017-09-24T20:03:44ZMansplaining Australian cities – we can do something about that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/186740/original/file-20170920-920-o0sngi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">&quot;I don’t think there are many women who think, &#39;Oh, my ideal project would be a massive tower.&#39; &quot;</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/@anthonydelanoix?photo=_PLHuchFYb8">Anthony Delanoix/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The American writer Rebecca Solnit, in her groundbreaking collection of essays, including the eponymous <a href="https://www.guernicamag.com/rebecca-solnit-men-explain-things-to-me/">Men Explain Things To Me</a>, first used the term “mansplaining” to describe how men claim superior knowledge and control making the meaning of things. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/691-men-explain-things-to-me">her book</a>, she describes it as:</p>
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<p>… the presumption that makes it hard, at times, for any woman in any field; that keeps women from speaking up and from being heard when they dare; that crushes young women into silence by indicating, the way harassment on the street does, that this is not their world. It trains us in self-doubt and self-limitation just as it exercises men’s unsupported overconfidence.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/mansplaining-the-word-of-the-year-and-why-it-matters-37091">Mansplaining the word of the year – and why it matters</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>With mansplaining in mind, men who created big visions about places have shaped our sense of the city. Think, for instance, of Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House and Robin Gibson’s Brutalist architecture of the contemporary arts buildings across Southbank in Brisbane.</p>
<p>From its parks and gardens, to roads and traffic light systems, to iconic buildings, cities are known to be created by men.</p>
<p>By capturing the narrative of the city’s places through mansplaining, our experience of cities is dominated by towering office buildings, monolithic civic structures and efficient, looping steel transport networks. As a result, we often experience the world through what men say and decide the world is and does.</p>
<p>For women, these city structures don’t hold so much design interest. As architect Fiona Scott <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/05/if-women-built-cities-what-would-our-urban-landscape-look-like">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… I don’t think there are many women who think, ‘Oh, my ideal project would be a massive tower.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The vibe of a city that makes us feel welcome, safe, happy and relaxed from the first moment is more than just the sum of how men plan and engineer a city. Women’s voices and stories are present in the city but are missing from the mainstream. </p>
<p>Architect Paula Whitman, <a href="http://archiparlour.org/going-places/">writing</a> about the career progression of women architects, highlights that women want to be involved in benchmark projects but mostly in those projects making a cultural and environmental difference. As a result, women architects are often relegated to help-mate roles in building cities. </p>
<p>Solnit wrote about the place names of men and their exploits forming the fabric of New York City. She reimagined the city by renaming subway stations after women who contributed to history.</p>
<p>In Australia, from colonial times, women have built our cities, but their names and achievements went unrecognised. By naming places after them, inserting women into the landscape and language of the city, we can demonstrate women’s contributions more clearly and fairly.</p>
<h2>Women’s contribution to our cities</h2>
<p>Women have contributed to shaping our cities by being commissioned to create statues and memorials and designing communities, but their roles have become obscured. </p>
<p>Sydney-born <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mayo-lilian-daphne-14954">Daphne Mayo</a> was a sculptor commissioned to work on the Brisbane City Hall. With the Queensland-born artist <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lahey-frances-vida-7008">Vida Lahey</a>, she established the Queensland Art Reference Library at the University of Queensland in 1936. </p>
<p>The pair set up an art acquisition fund, the Queensland Art Fund, sourcing important works of art – including William Dobell’s <a href="http://learning.qagoma.qld.gov.au/?p=1752">The Cypriot</a> – for the Queensland Art Gallery. Public sculptures Mayo created included the Queensland Women’s War Memorial in Anzac Square and a statue of Sir William Glasgow.</p>
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<p>Mayo was awarded an MBE in 1959. Yet the name of Daphne Mayo and the pioneering work of Queensland’s first female sculptor are not well known outside of architecture and academia. </p>
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<p><strong><em>You can explore Daphne Mayo’s Brisbane on the public interactive map below. If you find yourself in the area, you can use mapping pins to contribute your own observations and upload snippets of multimedia. (Click at top right to enlarge the map, then select Edit to the left of the map.)</em></strong></p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/embed?mid=1v5Hi-JZi8n7qcs_LmbalTM5shFs" width="100%" height="480"></iframe>
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<p>Likewise, Western Australia’s first qualified town planner, <a href="http://feilmanfoundation.com.au/margaret-feilman-obituary/">Margaret Feilman</a>, has largely disappeared from public knowledge. Among her many achievements, she led her town planning team in the government of Western Australia to establish Kwinana, a refinery dormitory town for 25,000 people 40 minutes south of Perth. </p>
<p>While politicians pressed to industrialise and boost the state’s economy, Feilman was adamant residents should be housed away from the refinery and the fumes blown by the prevailing wind. </p>
<p>In the 1950s, she established the state’s first formal environmental group, the Tree Society, and adopted a holistic approach to heritage, promoting a robust connection between the natural, built and indigenous environments. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.doloreshayden.com/">Dolores Hayden</a>, in her 1980 essay, asked “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173814?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">What would a non-sexist city be like?</a>”. For Hayden, the arbitrary division between home and city should be blurred, open and more accessible. Community space for childcare, recreation and communal activities should be in close proximity. </p>
<p>Hayden advocates for communal services, especially child care, aged care and health, with a focus on co-operatives to supply household services. She reinvents the neighbourhood to give people connection and spaces to play and interact, and to prevent them living in isolation. </p>
<p>In her 2016 book <a href="http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1271">Places Women Make</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/jane-jose-on-why-women-should-be-more-involved-in-designing-our-cities-20160101-glxqkr.html">Jane Jose</a> examines how the spaces we inhabit shape our happiness. She <a href="http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/files/extracts/Places_Women_Make_extract.pdf">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Shared public places and the way they are created will be crucial to successful, enjoyable urban life. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jose cites the contribution of women to our cities, seeing liveliness, vibrancy and liveability as hallmarks of this influence. According to Jose, men are the “hero architects” creating city buildings. But surprising, inspiring, delightful places – sea pools, museums, libraries, gardens and walks – are ways women add meaning to cities. </p>
<h2>A way forward</h2>
<p>Pyschogeography refers to the intimate relationship between psychology and geography. Typically, it involves wandering – or <em>dériving</em>, a term from the French referring to drift – unplanned journeying through a landscape, typically urban. It can be a way to make the invisible visible, or the unseen observable. </p>
<p>When used with a purposeful theme such as “women’s contributions to shaping the city”, it can help to focus attention on what is present in a place and what is missing. Siobhan Lyons recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychogeography-a-way-to-delve-into-the-soul-of-a-city-78032">discussed</a> the techniques in relation to uncovering the “soul of a city”. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychogeography-a-way-to-delve-into-the-soul-of-a-city-78032">Psychogeography: a way to delve into the soul of a city</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Dorothy Wardale and Linley Lord used psychogeography to reveal the corporate culture of a university. They found, for example, men’s achievement dominated images around the university. </p>
<p><a href="http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/7679/">Deborah Knowles employed it</a> to see how organisations are experienced from a feminist perspective and to give back visibility to women’s roles in the workplace.</p>
<p>Anyone can easily use the process: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Choose a topic or a theme.</p></li>
<li><p>Start to wander or <em>dérive</em> around a location. If you don’t want to wander solo, possibly find a walking buddy. </p></li>
<li><p>As you wander, note artefacts, buildings, graffiti, signage, conversations, noises, smells – anything, really – and do it with a sense of fun. </p></li>
<li><p>When you’ve had enough (allow at least 60 minutes, but you could <em>dérive</em> for hours or days), try to make sense of your observations. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Record your observations by taking photos, making a voice recording, or writing down your impressions, ideas and feelings. You may like to try taking photos without using the viewfinder, according to the principles of <a href="https://www.lomography.com/about/the-ten-golden-rules">lomography</a>: “Don’t Think. Just Shoot.” </p>
<p>By tapping into psychogeography, rather than accepting the mansplained version of our cities, we may find it is women after all who have created the conditions for liveability.</p>
<p>Women have made significant contributions to cities from colonial times, when <a href="http://artstas.com.au/our-history/history-of-ancanthe/">Lady Jane Franklin founded Ancanthe</a>, a museum in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1842, to the modern era, with the work of Margaret Feilman in designing entire townships. If men build cities and claim a heroic narrative, women build communities and the stories of connection.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry Brown receives funding from various government and private sector organisations for undertaking research projects and she has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the various government, community and private organisations that partner these ARC projects. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dorothy Wardale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities aren't just a male creation, but women's contributions have been sidelined. There are ways we can rediscover and restore these women to their rightful place in the stories of our cities.Kerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityDorothy Wardale, Director, Executive Education in School of Buisness and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/794182017-07-05T20:08:14Z2017-07-05T20:08:14ZBrisbane's Cross River Rail will feed the centre at the expense of people in the suburbs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174139/original/file-20170616-19763-1dzn4o7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Cross River Rail project offers a solution to a narrowly conceived problem while ignoring the bigger picture of metropolitan planning. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brisbane-australia-october-18-2016-aerial-510320866?src=sqE1GObxW97Kui37bglKrA-1-0">shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Queensland government is <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-budget-201718-govt-to-add-2b-for-cross-river-rail-20170612-gwprq0.html">pushing for the Cross River Rail project</a>, a second railway connection through Brisbane’s CBD. </p>
<p>In the state’s <a href="http://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/noindex/shapingseq/draft-south-east-queensland-regional-plan.pdf">ShapingSEQ</a> regional plan, advocates of the project claim it will remove a constraint on job growth by improving access to inner Brisbane. However, the plan neglects an alternative strategy of prioritising job growth in a few strong “metropolitan centres” within the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/6b6e07234c98365aca25792d0010d730/%24FILE/Greater%20Capital%20City%20Statistical%20Area%20-%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf">greater Brisbane metropolitan area</a> to the CBD’s north, west and south.</p>
<p>The Cross River Rail project emerged from a narrow focus on boosting the CBD’s peak-hour commuting capacity by overcoming a bottleneck on the single rail bridge across the Brisbane River. The issue was framed as a problem, rather than a potential opportunity to encourage employment decentralisation.</p>
<h2>Life outside the CBD</h2>
<p>It’s been 60 years since Australia’s first drive-in shopping centre, <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/the-60year-evolution-of-brisbanes-first-major-shopping-centre-20170522-gwao1t.html">Westfield Chermside</a>, opened in Brisbane’s north. The centre is now one of the largest in Australia.</p>
<p>In the ShapingSEQ plan, Chermside is one of 11 “principal regional activity centres” outside the CBD competing for market share within Brisbane’s greater metro area. If media reports are correct, there is an “<a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/shopping-centres-battle-to-be-biggest-and-best-north-of-brisbane-20170317-gv0x7o.html">arms race</a>” between some centres on Brisbane’s northside.</p>
<p>But is competition between so many centres the best strategy for a metro area with rapid population growth, most of it expected at the fringe? Would it be better to have three “key metropolitan centres” providing more diverse employment and higher-level services – not just “big box” shopping – closer to these areas than the CBD is? </p>
<p>These questions have been dodged for more than a decade.</p>
<h2>Key metropolitan centres</h2>
<p>Planning authorities promoted a key metropolitan centres concept as early as the mid-1970s. The <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9460266?selectedversion=NBD1639109">Moreton Region Growth Strategy</a> recommended three key centres in metropolitan Brisbane, beyond the CBD. Each was to be a focal point for “public and private employment growth”. </p>
<p>These three centres were to be given “priority over other centres in relation to planning, promotional and resource allocation activities of government”. The report considered key centres offering alternative employment locations to the central city “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Qz-PAgAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA185&amp;dq=Governance+and+Planning+of+Mega-City+Regions+moreton+region+necessary+and+feasible&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiB9biGga_TAhWLWrwKHQNqCYwQ6AEIJDAA#v=onepage&amp;q=%22necessary%20and%20feasible%22&amp;f=false">both necessary and feasible</a>”.</p>
<p>This approach was continued during the 1990s in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_East_Queensland_Regional_Plan">Regional Framework for Growth Management</a> (RFGM) in the southeast. By 2005, when the first statutory regional plan was introduced, the concept had been dropped. </p>
<p>Instead, a policy of “principal regional activity centres” was adopted and remains in effect. It was based largely on <a href="http://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/noindex/shapingseq/background-paper-2-prosper.pdf">centres designated by local councils</a> at that time, rather than being a more integrated regional approach. </p>
<p>The large area of the city relative to southeast Queensland means Brisbane City Council has <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=mn16SobInioC&amp;pg=PA193&amp;dq=local+government+influence+on+centres+policy+in+the+south+east+queensland+regional+plan&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiO0Lz7q5bTAhUBbbwKHewVDJUQ6AEIJDAC#v=onepage&amp;q=local%20government%20influence%20on%20centres%20policy%20in%20the%20south%20east%20queensland%20regional%20plan&amp;f=false">significant influence on planning</a> for the region. Without its support, a policy of key metropolitan centres outside the Brisbane City boundary would not have been possible. Such a policy would have necessarily restrained the growth of some centres within the city. </p>
<p>In addition, background research for the 1994 RFGM noted that “considerable forward planning effort” would be needed to consolidate retailing, office, civic and community facilities in selected locations. Any resolve to undertake this seems to have dissipated by 2005.</p>
<p>About that time, and particularly after the global financial crisis, transport infrastructure development became more about <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbulls-report-card-on-urban-transport-projects-reveals-narrow-economic-focus-69880">promoting economic growth</a> than being part of an integrated land use strategy. This was particularly evident in Brisbane’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransApex">TransApex road projects</a>, with Cross River Rail falling into a similar category. </p>
<p>Infrastructure development has since threatened to <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-sense-of-the-global-infrastructure-turn-73853">supersede spatial planning</a> in Australian metropolitan areas.</p>
<h2>Thinking strategically about the whole city</h2>
<p>If built, the rail project will serve areas that already have comparatively good public transport services. The suburban areas where most people live would continue to have limited transport options. </p>
<p>RMIT’s Jago Dodson <a href="http://www.ppt.asn.au/pubdocs/ip15-dodson-et-al-2011.pdf">has called</a> for a stronger suburban focus in city policy. Projects like the Cross River Rail project have “questionable merit”, <a href="http://ngaa.org.au/media/1031/ngaa_address_logancc.pdf">according to Dodson</a>, and will have “little impact on conditions in our suburban growth areas”. </p>
<p>A key metropolitan centres policy would likely create more benefits for these growth areas, particularly if combined with <a href="http://www.ppt.asn.au/pubdocs/ip15-dodson-et-al-2011.pdf">effectively networked public transport</a> offering good service to these centres. </p>
<p>Some upgrades of southeast Queensland’s passenger rail network might be needed. These should serve the agreed spatial planning strategy rather than being narrowly focused on relieving forecast congestion. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08111146.2016.1235033?src=recsys">sense of urgency</a> created around Cross River Rail works against the need for <a href="https://theconversation.com/shapingseq-regional-plan-gives-stakeholders-a-bigger-say-than-citizens-69199">genuine community engagement</a> in planning for the Brisbane metro area and the broader region. </p>
<p>The Cross River Rail project should be considered in the context of a metropolitan area that citizens want, not simply as a response to forecast travel demand.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Feeney is affiliated with the Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council as a volunteer.</span></em></p>The rail project may well help get more commuters into the CBD, but offers few benefits for the parts of the broader metro area where most population growth is occurring.Brian Feeney, Adjunct Fellow, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/703922017-01-10T19:35:21Z2017-01-10T19:35:21ZOld floods show Brisbane's next big wet might be closer than we think<p>Six years ago, a catastrophic flood unfolded in the Lockyer Valley in southeast Queensland. The floodwaters then spread on January 11 2011 across the Brisbane River floodplains, inundating the Brisbane CBD and inner suburbs, and bringing the state’s capital to a standstill.</p>
<p>The January floods came in the wake of other devastating floods that had hit Queensland towns and cities in December 2010, affecting an area bigger than <a href="http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/11698/QFCI-Final-Report-March-2012.pdf">France and Germany combined</a>. Thirty-three people died in the 2010/2011 floods; three remain missing.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thebigflood.com.au/extendingrecord.html">Our research</a>, based on palaeological flood records, suggests floods of the size of January 2011 may be more common than we think. When the next one occurs is a matter of when, not if. So what can we do to plan better? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150429/original/image-20161216-26051-pwfgvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150429/original/image-20161216-26051-pwfgvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brisbane ferry terminal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of Queensland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is a one-in-100-year flood?</h2>
<p>Floods are the <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.qld.gov.au/publications/understanding-floods/flood-consequences">most expensive type of natural disaster in Australia</a>. The 2011 flood is estimated to have cost the Australian economy <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-18/flood-costs-tipped-to-top-30b/1909700">around A$30 billion</a>. This does not include the incalculable cost of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.193">declining water quality and ecosystem health</a> in offshore ecosystems such as Moreton Bay. </p>
<p>To manage flood risk, we have to understand the chance of different-sized floods occurring. The chance of a flood event can be described using a variety of terms, commonly including the average recurrence interval (ARI). You’ve probably seen this reported in the media as the “one-in-100-year flood”. </p>
<p>However, the preferred method is now annual exceedance probability (AEP). For example, the one-in-100-year flood has a one-in-100 chance or 1% AEP of being exceeded in any year. Currently, this 1% AEP event is designated as having an “acceptable” risk for planning purposes <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.qld.gov.au/publications/understanding-floods/chances-of-a-floods">nearly everywhere in Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Initial estimations of the 2011 event, based on 31 years of gauging records in the Upper Lockyer, indicated an AEP of 0.05%, or an ARI of one in 2,000 years.</p>
<p>But another extreme event in 2013, with five more years of data, reduced this to 1.11%, or one in 90 years. This illustrates a major problem with calculating flood risk: flood prediction is extremely dependent on the amount of data. It is worse in countries such as Australia where European settlement occurred relatively recently. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150272/original/image-20161215-2529-ccdkhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150272/original/image-20161215-2529-ccdkhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of Queensland</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding old floods</h2>
<p>One way to extend the data is to incorporate palaeoflood records into flood predictions. Palaeoflood records are obtained from a range of techniques that combine different sources of past flood information from the landscape. </p>
<p>These might include markers on old buildings or bridges which extend further back than the river gauging records. Flood sediments stored high in bedrock gorges or in lowland floodplains also provide a long-term record once we’ve dated them. </p>
<p>In our recent Australian Research Council Linkage Project, <a href="http://www.thebigflood.com.au">The Big Flood: will it happen again?</a>, we’ve been looking at these types of flood records.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150430/original/image-20161216-26032-5nlr3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150430/original/image-20161216-26032-5nlr3t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flood deposits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacky Croke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The project has produced the first-ever palaeoflood record for the Lockyer Valley, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jqs.2919/full">extending it back several thousand years</a>. We’ve produced a timeline of past floods using a technique called Optically Stimulated Luminescence, which estimates the age based on how much sunlight (UV light) is stored in a single grain of sand. UV light produces a luminescence signal that gets trapped inside the lattice of the quartz sand. The amount stored can be converted to produce an age since burial.</p>
<p>This record reveals that flood events like 2011 have occurred at least seven times over the past 1,000 years. We also found a period of high flood activity during the 1700s, which exceeded the size of the historical events of the 1890s and 1974 floods. We can also see clusters of floods within short time periods, such as the cluster in the 1800s, which was highlighted again by the floods in 2011 and 2013. </p>
<p>The record indicates that such extreme flood events may occur more frequently than we thought. </p>
<p>Most importantly, when we incorporate palaeoflood records into traditional flood analysis, the uncertainty in predictions is significantly reduced. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150431/original/image-20161216-26045-fbsnbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150431/original/image-20161216-26045-fbsnbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Incorporating palaeoflood records reduces the uncertainty in flood forecasts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Big Flood project</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do we need to do with this information?</h2>
<p>Palaeoflood records represent a viable, cost-effective solution to the ongoing problem of flood risk management in Australia. To date, the use of palaeoflood records has not been included in traditional flood analysis nor recognised in planning or policy. In spite of two extreme events in 2011 and 2013, many <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420915300972">planning and policy guidelines remain unchanged</a>. </p>
<p>The two extreme flood events in 2011 and 2013 indicate that the level of certainty around acceptable limits of flooding is inadequate. Longer records are needed to reduce flood risk in southeast Queensland. Without this critical next step, Australians remain at risk of extreme flood events. </p>
<p>Given the likelihood of <a href="https://theconversation.com/increases-in-rainfall-extremes-linked-to-global-warming-1193300">increasing rainfall extremes in the future</a>, it is important we start using the information nature has preserved to better prepare for more frequent extreme floods. </p>
<p><em>* Correction: The original version of this story stated that the flooding of the Brisbane floodplains in January 2011 was equivalent to the area of France and Germany combined. That was incorrect; it should have referred to the total area affected by floods across Queensland in the 2010/11 floods. This article has now been updated and corrected with details from the <a href="http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/11698/QFCI-Final-Report-March-2012.pdf">2012 Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry</a>. Thank you to readers David Arthur and Mark Duffett for pointing out the error.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacky Croke receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Research based on palaeological flood records suggests floods as big as those that hit Brisbane in 2011 may be more common than we think.Jacky Croke, Associate Professor in Fluvial Geomorphology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/692912016-12-04T19:09:57Z2016-12-04T19:09:57ZNeighbours' fears about affordable housing are worse than any impacts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148532/original/image-20161204-25667-z85zbf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">These units in suburban Parramatta were built as part of the 2009-12 national Social Housing Initiative.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gethin Davison</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Housing affordability is a hot topic in Australia. Governments are increasingly recognising that more needs to be done to provide a greater range of affordable housing options, especially in the <a href="http://www.greatersydneycommission.nsw.gov.au/towards-our-greater-sydney-2056">major cities</a>. It is <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/211">well documented</a>, however, that proposals for affordable housing development often encounter opposition from host community members. </p>
<p>These <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111146.2015.1118377">community concerns</a> tend to focus on the potentially damaging effects of such projects on property values and quality of life for existing residents. This is despite the public being generally <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02673037.2012.725831">supportive</a> of affordable housing in principle. They would just prefer it wasn’t sited in their local area.</p>
<p>In reality, though, do the concerns that people have about affordable housing development materialise? Do property values go down? Does neighbours’ quality of life suffer?</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/211">case studies</a> in Brisbane and Sydney provide evidence that, in most cases, they do not.</p>
<h2>Testing for local property impacts</h2>
<p>How did we test for the impacts of affordable housing projects? With thanks to <a href="https://www.apm.com.au/">Australian Property Monitors</a>, we had access to property sales data throughout the Brisbane local government area (LGA), going back to 1999. </p>
<p>Using this data, we tested the impacts of 17 affordable housing developments on property sale prices through two different <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10901-016-9538-x">hedonic pricing models</a>. The models were designed to test whether:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The announcement and eventual construction of affordable housing projects had any impacts (positive or negative) on local property sale prices. Project announcement date was used to capture any “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944369908976032">panic sales</a>” that may have happened as a response to the announcements.</p></li>
<li><p>The extent of such impacts depended on proximity to the development (by direct distance in 100-metre intervals, up to 500 metres away from the affordable housing project).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The two models were used to test these outcomes collectively for 17 affordable housing projects that were developed across Brisbane LGA between 2000 and 2009, and also on an individual project basis.</p>
<p>Collectively across the 17 projects, these had no significant negative impacts on local property prices. There were mild impacts on properties within 100 metres of affordable housing projects, but not at any statistically significant level. </p>
<p>We found that the characteristics of the individual properties sold (such as number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms) consistently had much greater influence on sale prices than proximity to affordable housing developments.</p>
<p>When looked at individually, the impacts of each project on local property prices were mixed. Some affordable housing projects had positive impacts and others negative. </p>
<p>Only a handful of the measured impacts were statistically significant, however. Even in these cases the impacts of proximity to affordable housing had much to do with other features of the neighbourhood (such as proximity to public transport hubs, water frontages and so on).</p>
<p>These two tests clearly showed that the impacts of affordable housing development on local property sales prices had been minimal. The impacts that were experienced were not universally negative (or positive).</p>
<h2>Impacts on the quality of life of neighbours</h2>
<p>What then of the impacts on neighbours’ overall quality of life? How does an affordable housing development affect things like traffic, crime, an area’s visual appearance, or sense of community? </p>
<p>To understand this, we conducted doorstep surveys with 141 residents who lived close to (within about 60 metres) eight affordable housing projects in Parramatta local government area. </p>
<p>These projects had been locally opposed but still completed. We selected the most-controversial projects and were able to achieve participation by between one-fifth and one-third of the 60 or so residents likely to have been most affected by those developments. </p>
<p>We wanted to know whether people’s fears at the planning stage had materialised once the developments were complete and occupied.</p>
<p>Across the eight projects, 78% of respondents had experienced no negative impacts as a result of affordable housing development. At only two of our eight sites had a significant number of neighbours experienced negative impacts. These impacts were mostly associated with the behaviours of a small number of individual residents. </p>
<p>At the other sites, the negative impacts were dispersed. Mostly, these related to minor issues such as parking and traffic. </p>
<h2>Fears are an obstacle in themselves</h2>
<p>Overall, our findings indicate that the feared impacts of planned affordable housing developments tend to be much greater than the impacts neighbouring residents actually experience once those developments are complete and occupied. </p>
<p>In other words, the perception of affordable housing is the key problem, not the affordable housing developments themselves. These are by and large unproblematic once completed. </p>
<p>These findings suggest that governments and developers need to devote much more attention to tackling negative public perceptions of affordable housing and its residents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gethin Davison receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edgar Liu receives funding from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living, New South Wales&#39; Department of Family and Community Services, PAYCE Communities, SGCH Ltd, South Australia&#39;s Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, and Strata Community Australia (NSW chapter).</span></em></p>Do affordable housing projects drive down property values? Does neighbours' quality of life suffer? Case studies in Brisbane and Sydney suggest such fears aren't justified.Gethin Davison, Lecturer in City Planning and Design, UNSWEdgar Liu, Research Fellow at City Futures Research Centre, UNSWLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/633222016-08-19T05:26:26Z2016-08-19T05:26:26ZGaming trends show cities need to rethink how they tap into creative economy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132914/original/image-20160803-12223-utcsad.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">City policymakers are realising creative workers don&#39;t have to be permanently clustered together if they can collaborate as needed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevepurkiss/13945518656/in/photolist-nfjqQQ-dCou8f-ikXbBA-nhCZGi-nhD2RP-nhXFij-nhD5nR-nfSZV3-nhCVvJ-bEzzdt-7xhdHS-7xh13w-65nBfW-FTB7p-65nAUy-4eKahS-qhbHgF-7xdcmz-wFgFRC-7xh1Vd-7xh4jw-ni2QMc-7xh3Nf-hyeB1S-7xh2o1-qf4miE-7xh1wS-368ay3-7xh2YL-9Asmnw-7xdhzM-7MiPFH-7xdgS6-FHsb6q-pknymh-5R6r65-33P8X4-pZWM2M-qT8CUX-quLXkR-qf5yUu-nhV8JH-9TxV9r-nTzH6o-pZMGJE-4SYgYW-4SU4hi-4SYhoJ-qf4hG1-iczfyN">Steve Purkiss/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Various cities in Australia have developed creative economy policies with the aim of diversifying their economy. These policies are about attracting and retaining entrepreneurs and firms from the creative industries sector, such as the music and fashion industries. </p>
<p>Creative economy policies were often based on the <a href="https://hbr.org/1998/11/clusters-and-the-new-economics-of-competition">cluster concept</a> developed by Michael Porter in the 1990s. This was the case for the <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/creative_brisbane_creative_economy_2013-2022.pdf">creative city strategy in Brisbane</a> and also for the more recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-secrets-to-being-a-superstar-music-city-50184">music industry policy in Melbourne</a>. </p>
<p>Brisbane has been very active in this area. The objective was to be less dependent on natural resources in the future. </p>
<p>Planning initiatives such the <a href="http://www.kgurbanvillage.com.au/">Kelvin Grove Village</a> are examples of economic development strategies based on the cluster concept that translated into planned projects. But positive steps are being taken to provide <a href="http://www.creativespaces.net.au/about-us/our-network/brisbane-city-council">affordable spaces for creative workers</a>.</p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2015.1067981#.V5_-lOt97q4%20_">research on the video game industry in Australia</a> has shown that new technologies have greatly influenced the production of games. The industry functions as a “networked community” and not strictly as spatially bounded clusters. The use of new platforms such as the internet enables small companies to produce games from remote areas. </p>
<h2>Industry structures are changing</h2>
<p>The composition of the industry has changed significantly since 2006-07, with the closure of several development studios that focused on console games, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krome_Studios">Krome Studios</a>. A variety of platforms – <a href="https://unity3d.com/unity?utm_source=youtube&amp;utm_medium=&amp;utm_campaign=demos-showcase-2016-06-21-Global-AdamFulll">Unity 3d</a>, mobile phones etc – is now available to game developers. </p>
<p>With the shift from console games to mobile phone games, the industry has changed dramatically. The nature of the demand has changed too: consumers of video games are now <a href="http://www.lib.umich.edu/blogs/eaten-grue/rise-mobile-games-factors-contributing-their-success">looking for a quick and fast experience</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.disparitygames.com/about/">Disparity Games</a>, operating from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, is an example of these new successful companies located outside the main cluster. The people behind Disparity Games are two video game developers working from home in an idyllic environment. The map below shows the location of video game firms in Queensland, with some of those companies operating from the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132689/original/image-20160802-17183-1hrz1wl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132689/original/image-20160802-17183-1hrz1wl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital connectivity has led to a wider dispersion of video game companies in southeast Queensland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In an interview with the author, one of the game developers explained why they decided to move their company to Noosa: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>After the collapse of large studios we decided to go indie. With the smaller indie companies, everyone is more supportive. We have meet-ups on marketing, technical issues, game testing. We are exchanging knowledge at those events, [so] we don’t need to be based in the city anymore to be part of the community.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>New technologies enable new ways of working</h2>
<p>These studios have demonstrated that self-publishing is a viable business model in Australia. Independent developers can now bypass traditional international publishers. </p>
<p>New technologies have thus had the effect of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02723638.2015.1067981">reducing the size of video game companies and increasing their number</a>. This is verified in Queensland, which has become specialised in developing mobile phone games.</p>
<p>New technologies such as the National Broadband Network (NBN) have changed the way video game developers produce games and where they produce them. With the NBN, a small video game company can literally produce a game from anywhere.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132911/original/image-20160803-12201-1blciey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132911/original/image-20160803-12201-1blciey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Co-working spaces allow creative workers to get together only when they need to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/janelleorsi/12897062203/in/photolist-kDEPgr-9Apr26-a2KK9g-9ApqXv-ikWRxA-ikYcbZ-njFCnP-92jnme-nhXdYL-nhCzUE-nfjqQQ-dCou8f-ikXbBA-nhCZGi-nhD2RP-nhXFij-nhD5nR-nfSZV3-nhCVvJ-bEzzdt-7xhdHS-7xh13w-65nBfW-FTB7p-65nAUy-4eKahS-qhbHgF-7xdcmz-wFgFRC-7xh1Vd-7xh4jw-ni2QMc-7xh3Nf-hyeB1S-7xh2o1-qf4miE-7xh1wS-368ay3-7xh2YL-9Asmnw-7xdhzM-7MiPFH-7xdgS6-FHsb6q-pknymh-5R6r65-33P8X4-pZWM2M-qT8CUX-quLXkR">janelleorsi/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If they already have the professional connections, developers can work on the same game with different experts located in different cities. Face-to-face interactions are important, but this does not mean anymore that video game developers need to be located in the city at all times. </p>
<p>In that sense, creative economy policies should think about flexible ways to accommodate creative workers in the city. The opening of co-working spaces in <a href="https://www.littletokyotwo.com/">South Bank</a> or the <a href="http://www.rivercitylabs.net/">River City labs</a> are good examples in Brisbane.</p>
<p>This research shows it is time to go beyond the cluster type of economic development policies to attract and retain creative workers and firms in cities like Brisbane. </p>
<p>Instead of planning creative neighbourhoods or districts, which are often not affordable for start-up companies, policies should aim for flexible solutions such as co-working spaces. Those are more adapted to an era in which new technologies are to a certain extent changing the geography of creative industries based on technological innovation such as the video game industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastien Darchen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities seeking to attract creative industries have relied heavily on the cluster concept. New research suggests a technology-driven transformation of how the sector works calls for a new approach.Sebastien Darchen, Lecturer in Planning, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618512016-07-21T01:11:56Z2016-07-21T01:11:56ZA tale of five cities: applying foresight to shape their futures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130828/original/image-20160718-2147-nb3akg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How people conceive of their city&#39;s future is important in shaping how the city&#39;s future unfolds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://500px.com/photo/142911911/brisbane-at-night-panaramic-goodwill-bridge-by-zachary-powson">Zachary Powson/500px.com</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mayors, CEOs, citizens and policy analysts are working to create uplifting images of their future cities. Their intended result is clear unifying visions for the city futures they desire.</p>
<p>So how can foresight make a difference in cities? </p>
<h2>Visioning</h2>
<p>The first way foresight improves cities is through <a href="http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/effective-engagement/toolkit/tool-visioning">visioning</a> projects. The City of Greater Geelong is aiming to look ahead 20 to 30 years through its first visioning and strategy project, Geelong 2040. Interviewed about this, Geelong City CEO Kelvin Spiller said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Geelong 2040 will be a city-changing experience, for the long-term betterment of its residents and stakeholders. City visioning will be supported by community engagement. In the same manner that corporate engagement helps the carriage of new innovations upwards, visioning can do this for the planning of urban areas. </p>
<p>Perhaps longer-term visioning should be legislated to encourage managers to help cascade preferences upward and not only into the city vision.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Scenarios</h2>
<p>The second way foresight shapes cities is by applying futures methods like scenarios. Scenarios use group problem-solving and collective cognition to shape insights into alternatives.</p>
<p>What are our 2040 city futures scenarios? Considering an emerging <a href="http://www.shapingseq.com.au">regional plan</a> for Southeast Queensland, professor <a href="http://www.metafuture.org/about-us/">Sohail Inayatullah</a>, the first UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies, created the following alternatives:</p>
<p><strong>Scenario one:</strong> visions are achieved and our cities are still liveable. By 2040, the population has dramatically increased, but good governance, community consultation and foresight have mitigated negative possibilities (crime, congestion, pollution) and enhanced positive possibilities (job growth, green belt protection, water and energy management). </p>
<p>People want to move into these visionary cities, even with higher housing prices. A fair go is still possible.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130650/original/image-20160715-2153-134evzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130650/original/image-20160715-2153-134evzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scenario two: hot and paved.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danspink/15698491719/in/photolist-pVdSEk">dnlspnk/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Scenario two:</strong> cities arrive at the fate of being “hot and paved”. Market pressures kept driving up housing prices. Developers paid lip service to green and social concerns and a two-class society has emerged. Traffic problems did not decrease; rather, efforts to widen highways led to more congestion. Funding went to major highway connections while public transport and alternative working-from-home practices were overlooked. </p>
<p>Global warming has only made life worse – temperatures continue to rise, water shortages increase. Health indicators worsen. </p>
<p>Three tiers of government look to each other for solutions. Federal governments just seek to stay in power. Capacity for sustainable futures shrinks. </p>
<p><strong>Scenario three:</strong> worse yet, 2040 could be wired and miserable. In this scenario, the previous 20 years have been a series of confrontations between local, state and federal governments, between developers and environmentalists, between individual freedom and security, young and old, rural and coastal areas, and new migrants (many environmental refugees) and old migrants. </p>
<p>It is a world of endless sprawl, congested highways and gang warfare. Technology and power are used to keep collective peace.</p>
<p><strong>Scenario four:</strong> the concern is for the long-term future. Councils all over Australia continue to develop their own visions. As a result, there is a community capacity to innovate. </p>
<p>The percentage of people known as “cultural creatives” has grown dramatically. The values of sustainability, spirituality, innovation and global governance have become the official values.</p>
<p>The main changes are toward home-based work, public transport and active transport. Futures thinking is helping cities get ahead of challenges such as climate change, population growth and democratic policy selection. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L5MJ_APlLc4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An introduction to Sohail Inayatullah’s work on futures thinking.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Inayatullah’s new book, <a href="http://www.metafuture.org/product/what-works-2">What Works</a>, discusses other studies about city futures.</p>
<h2>Sustainable actions</h2>
<p>A third way foresight shapes futures is through sustainable actions. The following four southeast Queensland cities have undertaken city visioning in areas of public transport, energy and environment, and liveability.</p>
<p>Brisbane is planning <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/public-transport/brisbane-metro-subway-system">subway metro</a> and cross-river rail projects. These will benefit commuters in the middle and outer suburbs, who are increasingly experiencing long periods of gridlock.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130651/original/image-20160715-2150-7c1ekh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130651/original/image-20160715-2150-7c1ekh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the Sunshine Coast, the council is building a solar plant to offset all its energy use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://d1j8a4bqwzee3.cloudfront.net/~/media/Corporate/Images/AuthorsPageImages/artists-impression-solar-farm-carousel.jpg?la=en">Artist's impression, Sunshine Coast Regional Council</a></span>
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<p>On the Sunshine Coast, a 15-megawatt <a href="http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Major-Regional-Projects/Sunshine-Coast-Solar-Farm">solar-powered plant</a> is a first for Australian local government. It will offset the council’s entire electricity consumption by 2017. </p>
<p>On the Gold Coast, 7.3km of <a href="http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Projects/Name/G/Gold-Coast-Light-Rail-Stage-2.aspx">light rail</a> extensions will be delivered before the 2018 Commonwealth Games. This will ease congestion, improve accessibility and promote economic growth.</p>
<p>In Logan, a <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-south-bank-entertainment-precinct-inspires-plans-for-similar-project-in-logan/news-story/b84b85d938a861baced5c2f22686f4c4">Southbank development</a> will create recreational space on river banks alongside floating restaurants to stimulate investment.</p>
<p>When I interviewed former Brisbane City CEO Jude Munro about city foresight, she observed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The benefits from closely linking land use and transport planning are a clear priority. However, more is required. Better legislation is called for to help cities to plan with foresight, but also city councils should be trialling a range of other measures being employed successfully in Australia. </p>
<p>For example, having a community coalition of local leaders like the one the City of Logan is building can have positive insights for local governance teams to consider. Also, a dedicated team like the <a href="http://www.planning.org.au/documents/item/3245">urban renewal team in Brisbane</a> in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s could help re-establish principles of local area planning in cities of southeast Queensland.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In southeast Queensland, a <a href="http://www.shapingseq.com.au/">new regional plan</a> will unite its cities’ plans under a high-level strategic vision for the next 50 years.</p>
<p>Inayatullah, Spiller, Munro and I agree that, to ensure long-term actions work sustainably, cities should engage stakeholders and communities in visioning, involve futurists who understand how to apply and deepen scenarios and foresight methods, and create strategies within a futures framework. The last step relies upon:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>developing stronger sectoral, suburban and regionally aligned long-term plans;</p></li>
<li><p>aligning city short-term corporate plans to long-term visions;</p></li>
<li><p>working with state and federal government to align city visions with global East-West strategies, including geopolitical, economic and cultural elements; and</p></li>
<li><p>refreshing visions using futurists’ methods to ensure a scientific and democratic engagement process. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Foresight is synonymous with a transforming, renewable and complex urbanism. Globally, cities are driving change and applying foresight to open their markets and improve collective prosperity and places.</p>
<p>The need for sustainable urbanism compels us to update plans not only for physical infrastructure but also for “softer” matters of population, energy, ecology, safety, education, health and seamless connection up, down and across sectors, borders and cultures. The more we think ahead with greater depth and breadth of understanding and co-operation, the better our city futures will be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin Russo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With foresight, we can steer our cities closer to the future we want instead of the futures we fear.Colin Russo, Futurist, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/622772016-07-15T01:13:30Z2016-07-15T01:13:30ZUrban hacktivism: getting creative about involving citizens in city planning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130619/original/image-20160714-23350-1sr9mbx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Billboard hacktivism in Toronto, Canada.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/07/guerrilla_art_group_hacks_dozens_of_astral_info_pillars/">blogTO</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Urban and regional planning, as an institutional practice, is increasingly criticised for failing to meet ordinary citizens’ needs. Enter “<a href="https://au.pinterest.com/murmuracc/urban-intervention/">hacktivism</a>”. </p>
<p>Fusing hacking and activism, the term has previously referred to using information technology to achieve political goals. While “hacking” often entails malicious attacks on websites, it has another meaning. Hacking also means innovative problem-solving by combining new ideas with readily available materials. </p>
<p>Examples include taking an old DVD and using it as a drink coaster, bending a paperclip to reset a digital device, or twisting a coat hanger to unblock a drain. These are do-it-yourself “hacks” like those of the television character <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088559/">MacGyver</a>.</p>
<p>Essentially, hacking is creative problem-solving. “Hackathons” are a case in point. <a href="http://bit.ly/inov8hack">Hackathons</a> involve the “brainstorming, designing and testing of ideas with change-makers”.</p>
<p>Hacktivism in this sense refers to grassroots problem-solving by like-minded people who are willing to “go round the back” of established institutions to achieve social objectives. Hacktivism reflects a growing disenchantment with mainstream institutions, pervasive <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-neoliberalisms-moral-order-feeds-fraud-and-corruption-60946">neoliberalism</a>, and cultures of consumption.</p>
<p>Hacktivism is different to “<a href="http://www.placehacking.co.uk">place-hacking</a>” by urban explorers. Recent examples of this include <a href="https://theconversation.com/look-out-behind-the-bus-stop-here-come-guerrilla-gardeners-digging-up-an-urban-revolution-29225">guerrilla gardens</a>, pop-up libraries, <a href="http://weburbanist.com/2014/03/12/city-hacktivism-12-fun-diy-urbanism-interventions/2/">repurposing</a> infrastructure and even disco traffic lights and <a href="http://www.smart-magazine.com/en/urban-hacks/">street pong</a>.</p>
<h2>What’s driving hacktivism?</h2>
<p>Hacktivism can challenge the trend among governing bodies to embrace neoliberal rhetoric about fast-tracking development. Cutting “red” and “green” tape disenfranchises residents. </p>
<p>Debates about <a href="https://theconversation.com/media-picture-of-urban-consolidation-focuses-more-on-a-good-scare-story-than-the-facts-58044">urban consolidation</a> are an example. Big developers seem to be able to bulldoze communities into accepting projects, which some residents feel will destroy the places they love, overshadow backyards, reduce privacy, increase congestion and noise, or even ruin neighbourhood character.</p>
<p>These concerns are often <a href="https://theconversation.com/calling-people-nimbys-wont-stop-development-arguments-25715">dismissed as “NIMBYism”</a> and self-interest. </p>
<p>But streamlined development assessment processes and “consultation” typically limit citizen engagement. Who can blame residents for getting angry?</p>
<p>Citizen groups, civic-minded planners, environmentalists and others are beginning to resist the <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydney-risks-becoming-a-dumb-disposable-city-for-the-rich-38172">privatisation of public spaces</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/public-spaces-are-going-private-and-our-cities-will-suffer-60460">erosion of public functions</a> by offering alternatives. These range from interventions such as the <a href="https://betterbeaufort.com.au/parklets/">parklets</a> and pop-up venues of so-called “<a href="https://issuu.com/streetplanscollaborative/docs/tactical_urbanism_vol_2_final?backgroundColor=">tactical urbanism</a>” to more “activist”-oriented responses such as a <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/node/57714">Toronto group’s</a> subversive use of advertising billboards.</p>
<h2>Case studies in Australia</h2>
<p>In Australia, a small but growing cadre of residents is experimenting with hacktivism in planning. Two recent examples are instructive:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Gold Coast Hinterland and Environment Council’s (<a href="http://gecko.org.au/">GECKO</a>) initiative to “hack planning” by producing a community-led climate change action plan; and</p></li>
<li><p>organised community resistance to the “West Village” development in West End, Brisbane, where residents have developed their own collaborative planning processes to create an alternative vision for the site.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129977/original/image-20160711-24087-fkb14u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129977/original/image-20160711-24087-fkb14u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Challenging the developer’s model at a community picnic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>West End has a history of community-based resistance to evictions and inappropriate or undesirable development. It also has a history of challenging developers and governments to engage in a more sophisticated debate around <a href="http://westendcommunity.org/about-weca/">best practice in planning and development</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://brisbanedevelopment.com/west-village-proposal-unveiled/">West Village</a> development proposes seven 15-storey apartment towers and a large supermarket on an inner-city lot. This project highlights the ongoing struggle for social justice in inner Brisbane in the face of rapid development. </p>
<p>Stage 1 of West Village was deemed code-assessable, meaning no provision for public notification and no appeal rights. The full masterplan for the site is, however, impact-assessable.</p>
<p>Many residents saw the development proposal as flawed and creating many serious problems. Building on existing social ties and strengths, a group of residents and interested parties have begun to create an alternative vision (“Instead of West Village”) for the site. The aim is to pressure both the developer and government to engage with their concerns and aspirations. </p>
<p>Residents are using an open, collaborative, community-based planning process, similar to earlier grassroots engagements in the suburb. Community-led draft masterplans have been developed and discussed <a href="http://jonathansri.com/absoe/">at various events</a>. These plans are contrasted against community-generated models and images of the proposed development. Public meetings and workshops have enabled input from diverse quarters. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130497/original/image-20160714-12372-vdib7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/130497/original/image-20160714-12372-vdib7f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An alternative plan (right) is presented alongside the developer’s model (left) at the community picnic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The alternative vision is still being finalised, but the collaboration and spirit of hacktivism underpinning it transcend the importance of the alternative master plan. </p>
<p>This hacktivism asserts a <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/10/mexico-city-df-right-to-the-city-harvey-gentrification-real-estate-corruption/">right to the city</a>. It demands that planning be better: more just, more sustainable, more inclusive. In doing so, communities are beginning to “hack” planning itself.</p>
<p>GECKO’s recent <a href="http://climatechangeforgood.com.au">Climate Change For Good Conference</a> is a second example. This local non-profit organisation has partnered with the Queensland government to pioneer a new model of local climate-change adaptation. </p>
<p>The process began with a weekend of presentations by a range of experts and practitioners. These were accompanied by community-based problem-solving workshops. The forum closed with an innovative proposal to “hack planning”.</p>
<p>The intent is to devise a living document that crowdsources innovative adaptation ideas from the community to meet challenges such as health, food and water security, emergent business opportunities and place-making. This offers an alternative to Gold Coast City Council’s climate change <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/documents/bf/climate_strategy.pdf">adaptation plan</a>, which has been shelved. </p>
<p>The community-led plan will enable engagement with diverse groups that are often marginalised in the planning process, such as Aboriginal groups, caravan park dwellers, migrants, youth and homeless citizens. </p>
<p>By giving a voice to real people living in everyday places, and by drawing on citizen knowledge and ingenuity, hacktivism promises action on issues beyond the remit of traditional planning. So, how could you “hack” your city?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62277/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Byrne is a member of the Gold Coast and Hinterland Environment Council (GECKO) and works with GECKO on community-led climate change action projects. He also receives funding from the Australian Research Council on climate change adaptation and urban green-space and health. Jason provides consultancy services to the Gold Coast City Council. He is affiliated with the Queensland Greens and cares deeply about issues of environmental justice, citizen wellbeing, and urban ecologies. Jason is a member of Griffith University&#39;s Environmental Futures Research Institute.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Osborne is affiliated with a number of grassroots activist groups in Brisbane working for social and environmental justice, including the group campaigning against the West Village development and a broader movement on the Right To The City - Brisbane. She is also affiliated with the Greens, and is a member of Griffith University&#39;s Cities Research Centre.
</span></em></p>In Australia, a small but growing cadre of residents is experimenting with hacktivism in planning. Giving a voice to real people living in everyday places can help ensure planning meets public needs.Jason Byrne, Professor of Human Geography and Planning, University of TasmaniaNatalie Osborne, Lecturer, School of Environment, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/600462016-06-13T20:13:10Z2016-06-13T20:13:10ZState of the states: 19 reasons why Turnbull and Shorten keep flying to Queensland<p><em>Ahead of polling day on July 2, our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2016">State of the states series</a> takes stock of the key issues, seats and policies affecting the vote in each of Australia’s states and territories. We begin today with a look at <a href="http://theconversation.com/state-of-the-states-new-south-wales-and-the-issues-resounding-in-bellwether-seats-60050">New South Wales</a> and Queensland.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>There are 19 good reasons why Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have been spending so much time in Queensland. To win government, Labor needs a net gain of <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/election/election-2016-labor-needs-19-seats-to-make-history-20160507-gop196">19 seats nationally</a> – and that’s the exact number of marginal seats being fought over in Queensland this election.</p>
<p>Stretching from far north and central Queensland to a cluster in the state’s south-east, there are 12 federal seats with <a href="http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2016/03/2016-federal-election-pendulum-update.html">margins of less than 5%</a>, and seven more on margins of less than 8%, which in a Queensland context can be considered marginal. Of those dozen most marginal seats, the Liberal National Party and Labor each have the edge in five, though the LNP is likely to take back Clive Palmer’s seat of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/fair/">Fairfax</a>. Bob Katter holds the other in <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/kenn/">Kennedy</a>. </p>
<p>Our team at Griffith University chose ten of those key Queensland seats to watch closely and we have developed <a href="http://public.tableau.com/profile/sian.robinson#!/vizhome/AustralianFederalElection2016Tabs_0/Findyourelectorate">interactive profiles</a> of each one, drawing on Australian Bureau of Statistics population, income, housing and education data. </p>
<h2>Key issues and seats in regional Queensland</h2>
<p>Queensland is Australia’s most decentralised state, and the only state or territory where roughly half of its population of 4.7 million <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/pop-growth-highlights-trends-reg-qld/pop-growth-highlights-trends-reg-qld-2015.pdf">lives outside the capital</a>.</p>
<p>To understand why some election promises matter more than others in Queensland – from a now bipartisan pledge to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-13/coalition-to-match-labor-funding-promise-for-townsville-stadium/7504276">build Townsville a new stadium</a>, to spending more on the Great Barrier Reef – you need to look at the demographics of marginal seats, as <a href="http://public.tableau.com/profile/sian.robinson#!/vizhome/AustralianFederalElection2016Tabs_0/Findyourelectorate">we have done</a>.</p>
<p>Take jobs and growth. Turnbull’s much-vaunted “economic plan” aims to transition Australia from the mining boom to the new “innovation economy”. But that means quite different things to voters in the north and west of the state, where unemployment is above the state average of <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/6202.0Main%20Features2Apr%202016?opendocument&amp;tabname=Summary&amp;prodno=6202.0&amp;issue=Apr%202016&amp;num=&amp;view=">6.2%</a>.</p>
<p>The state’s unemployment highest rate, almost 12%, is in Townsville, which is in the north Queensland electorate of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/herb/">Herbert</a>, held by the Coalition’s Ewen Jones on a 6.2% margin. There, the closure of Queensland Nickel has compounded the mining downturn. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126243/original/image-20160613-29205-1jb0cg3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126243/original/image-20160613-29205-1jb0cg3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Queensland’s regional unemployment rates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://lmip.gov.au/default.aspx?LMIP/LFR_SAFOUR/QLD_LFR_LM_byLFR_UnemploymentRate">Department of Employment, Australian Government</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Add to that the “double whammy” of negative equity in houses and investment properties bought at the peak of the boom. Those factors can also be expected to impact other Coalition seats: <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/daws/">Dawson</a>, which lies south of Herbert and includes the city of Mackay; <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/hink/">Hinkler</a>, which takes in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay; and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/leic/">Leichhardt</a>, a seat more than twice the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/D1C2967E40D51C1DCA2573C5000D9EC3?opendocument">size of Tasmania</a>, sprawling from Cairns north to the Torres Strait Islands.</p>
<p>Both leaders and their respective frontbenchers have made <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/federal-election/malcolm-turnbull-and-bill-shorten-head-north-in-battle-for-queensland/news-story/1fccc9e86f00b23487a0135279393763">frequent visits</a> to regional Queensland, particularly seats like <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/capr/">Capricornia</a>, which the LNP’s Michelle Landry holds by 0.8%. Again proving the power of incumbency, Capricornia, Dawson, Herbert and Leichhardt have all benefited from what the Australian Financial Review has dubbed “<a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/election-2016-the-coalitions-17-billion-pork-barrel-strategy-20160605-gpby49">the Coalition’s $1.7 billion pork barrel strategy</a>”.</p>
<p>On Monday, after <a href="http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/coalition-pressured-as-stadium-support-builds/news-story/e345abef69b630b519a6d39b068ca5b1">months of local campaigning</a>, Turnbull <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/100m-for-a-local-stadium-thats-not-pork-barrelling-thats-a-bold-vision-says-pm-20160613-gphs1k.html">promised $100 million</a> towards a multi-purpose stadium in Townsville. That matched a <a href="http://www.billshorten.com.au/labor-will-deliver-a-new-townsville-stadium">Labor pledge</a> from last year. </p>
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<p>Turnbull used the same trip to announce a new <a href="http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/the-liberal-government-is-announcing-1-billion-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef/news-story/04a6e8c820291e74033c35a3b105678a?nk=5ccf14ef1fcd83b6bfe4a2862a38a2fe-1465788715">$1 billion Reef Fund</a> to be spent over the next decade, in contrast to Shorten’s earlier campaign pledge of <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-labor-pledges-380-million-for-great-barrier-reef-20160529-gp6mmj.html">$500 million</a> over five years for additional reef funding and research. The Great Barrier Reef is a hot topic statewide for voters concerned about the environment and climate change. But in these northern seats, protecting the reef is also about protecting tourism jobs.</p>
<p>Regional Queensland is at the heart of another issue that has been simmering for months, and which is sure to raised again in today’s <a href="http://www.budget.qld.gov.au/">state budget</a>: disaster relief and recovery.</p>
<p>In 2015, much of Queensland felt the brunt of Tropical Cyclones Marcia and Nathan, especially the electorates of Hinkler, Capricornia, Dawson, Flynn, Wide Bay, Herbert and Leichhardt. But it emerged recently that the federal government has “withheld” <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/trad-calls-on-turnbull-to-stop-politics-over-disaster-funds-20160601-gp8xcm.html">$1.1 billion in reimbursement</a> funding owed to Queensland under the National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. </p>
<p>This issue could gain greater national attention as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-06/wild-weather-lashes-the-east-coast-of-australia/7479978">Queensland, NSW and Tasmania all assess the damage</a> from the east coast low and flooding that claimed <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/five-dead-and-more-missing-in-tamanian-floods-as-cleanup-continues-in-nsw/news-story/fae9c101007690f16214c15eeed3b20a">five lives</a>.</p>
<h2>Key issues and seats in south-east Queensland</h2>
<p>In south-east Queensland, which is home to seven out of ten Queenslanders, jobs are also a concern. But it’s a story of stark contrasts.</p>
<p>Unemployment runs as high as 11% in Ipswich (part of retiring Labor member Bernie Ripoll’s electorate of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/oxle/">Oxley</a>) to a low of 3.1% in north Brisbane, and between 4.5-6% to the south and west of the city. In these electorates, cost of living looms among the most significant issues. Labor in particular has focused on costs of childcare, public school funding, and the government’s decision to freeze the Medicare rebate for another three years.</p>
<p>One of the most interesting electorates to watch on election night will be <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/dick/">Dickson</a>, in Brisbane’s outer north, which Immigration Minister Peter Dutton holds on a margin of 6.7%. </p>
<p>Dutton wrested the seat from Cheryl Kernot in 2001, but this time he is being challenged by Labor’s Linda Lavarch, a former Queensland attorney-general. Lavarch’s ex-husband and former Keating government attorney-general Michael Lavarch held the seat from 1993-96. A national social media campaign is being waged to “ditch Dutton” by the <a href="https://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/federal-election/ditch-dutton-fundraiser/time-to-ditch-dutton">activist group GetUp!</a>; by June 10, it had reportedly <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/dutton-vs-getup?utm_term=.oaQzE8wVx#.hklNkev2W">crowd-funded $190,000</a>.</p>
<p>On asylum-seekers and border security, as with managing the economy, the Coalition maintains a decisive edge with voters. This may explain why Dutton went <a href="https://theconversation.com/peter-dutton-a-menace-to-multicultural-australia-59618">so hard</a>, so early, on refugees in the opening weeks of the campaign. But Dutton’s comments may yet backfire on his leader in the inner-urban electorates of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/grif/">Griffith</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/bris/">Brisbane</a>, which the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-12/vote-compass-right-left-leaning-electorates/7501092">ABC’s Vote Compass</a> shows are Queensland’s two most left-leaning seats.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/bris/">Brisbane</a>, Teresa Gambaro’s belated decision not to re-contest the marginal inner-northern seat left the LNP scrambling to find a candidate to challenge Labor’s Pat O'Neill. O'Neill, a <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-labors-pat-oneill-tears-down-army-billboards/news-story/db4cc48d880d483de8f5727110e85bf9">former Army officer</a>, has been campaigning since he was preselected in June 2015.</p>
<p>The LNP’s Trevor Evans was endorsed in April 2016. Much has been made of the contest between <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/trevor-evans-wins-brisbane-lnp-preselection-setting-up-historic-election-20160414-go6pzh.html">two “openly gay” major party candidates</a>. But it remains unclear whether economic or social issues will be of more concern to Brisbane voters. Expect the Greens’ candidate <a href="http://greens.org.au/candidate/brisbane">Kirsten Lovejoy</a> to have an impact, even more so as a result of the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/federal-election-2016-labor-to-preference-votes-to-the-greens-20160612-gphhk1.html">Labor/Greens preference</a> deal. </p>
<h2>Why Queensland is always a state to watch</h2>
<p>Historically, Queenslanders have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/preview-qld/">favoured conservative</a> or Coalition governments – making it fashionable for some on the left to describe it as a “<a href="http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/49262/79788_1.pdf?sequence=1">conservative backwater</a>”. But when it comes to politics, the more accurate adjective is “volatile”. </p>
<p>Queensland voters tend to swing harder than elsewhere, which has proved as decisive in turfing out recent Coalition governments as it has in rejecting Labor.</p>
<p>In 1996, Queenslanders were “<a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/wayne-goss-a-shy-premier-who-brought-forth-the-sunshine-20141110-11jsdr.html">waiting on their verandahs with baseball bats</a>” to oust Paul Keating’s Labor government, helping John Howard’s Coalition win all but two Queensland seats. </p>
<p>But in 2007, Queenslanders swung more dramatically against Howard’s government than any other state (7.53% to Labor) to elect “Kevin from Queensland”. Labor won seats in the Coalition heartland in the north (Dawson and Leichhardt), as well as central Queensland (Flynn), and around the outer Brisbane mortgage belt in Forde, Longman, Moreton, and Petrie.</p>
<p>In 2010, Queensland voters repudiated Julia Gillard and played a major role in driving Labor into minority government after just one term: 9 of 18 seats Labor lost in that election were in Queensland.</p>
<p>At the last federal election in 2013, Queensland turned decisively to Tony Abbott. Labor achieved a primary vote of 29.8%, winning <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/preview-qld/">just six out of 30 lower house seats</a>.</p>
<p>Then, almost as if to prove how volatile Queensland politics can be, came <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-on-the-brink-of-a-shock-election-win-in-queensland-36983">last year’s state election</a>, in which the LNP went from winning a record majority in 2012 to losing power.</p>
<p>Whether Queensland’s unpredictable behaviour at the ballot box will be repeated on July 2 remains to be seen. With two-and-a-half weeks of campaigning to go, there doesn’t appear to be the kind of mood for change that usually accompanies big swings in Queensland. And Labor’s low base in Queensland, plus the slight margins held in traditionally Labor electorates like <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/lill/">Lilley</a> (1.3%) and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2016/guide/more/">Moreton</a> (1.6%), makes it an uphill battle.</p>
<p>There is also a developing consensus that the national swings reported in published opinion polls are not translating to the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/labor-behind-in-key-seats-needed-to-win-20160610-gpgcx4.html">seats that matter</a>. This, and historical experience, may explain why the Coalition looks less anxious in Queensland than some might have anticipated.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Catch up on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-the-states-2016">others in this series</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Correction: Michael Lavarch held the seat of Dickson from 1993-96, rather than the neighbouring seat of Petrie as originally stated. Thank you to reader Peter Kington for pointing out the error.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Tiernan has in the past received funding from the Australian Research Council and from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government.</span></em></p>To win government, Labor needs a net gain of 19 seats nationally – and that's the exact number of marginal seats being fought over in Queensland this election.Anne Tiernan, Professor, School of Government and International Relations; Director, Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/601742016-06-01T00:44:30Z2016-06-01T00:44:30ZEarly experiments show a smart city plan should start with people first<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124470/original/image-20160530-7678-19q0a6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brisbane aspires to be a truly smart and connected city.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marcus Foth</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s recently released <a href="https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/smart-cities-plan/">Smart Cities Plan</a> is built on three pillars: smart investment, smart policy and smart technology. Yet, it also suggests that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Cities are first and foremost for people.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If our cities are to continue to meet their residents’ needs, it is essential for people to engage and participate in planning and policy decisions that have an impact on their lives.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite this quintessential policymaking statement, the plan largely uses language that conveys a limited role for people in cities: they live, work and consume. The absence of a more thorough response is surprising considering the rich body of work calling for better <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/39160/">human engagement</a> in the smart city agenda.</p>
<p>South Korea’s early “U-city” (ubiquitous city) experiments, such as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/22/songdo-south-korea-world-first-smart-city-in-pictures">New Songdo</a>, were engineered by the national <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol">chaebol</a> such as Samsung and SK Telecom, and their deployment was assisted by top-down <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-152-0.ch025">policy directives</a>. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?oi=bibs&amp;cluster=10240009651625265856&amp;btnI=1&amp;hl=en">Germaine Halegoua</a> laments a missed opportunity to use the ubiquitous computing at the core of the U-city for community engagement and participation.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.citylab.com/authors/eric-jaffe/">Eric Jaffe</a> critiques Rio de Janeiro’s flawed smart city brain, the Integrated Centre of Command and Control, made by IBM. He <a href="https://medium.com/sidewalk-talk/4-lessons-from-rios-flawed-smart-cities-initiative-31cbf4e54b72#.srlipol9c">proposes four key lessons</a>, all of which point to the forgotten focus on people. In the same city, however, there is also hope.</p>
<h2>People-first approach</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ted.com/speakers/alessandra_orofino">Alessandra Orofino</a> founded <a href="http://www.meurio.org.br">Meu Rio</a>, Rio de Janeiro’s largest mobilisation network, which is now <a href="http://www.ourcities.org">expanding</a> to the rest of the world. In her <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/alessandra_orofino_it_s_our_city_let_s_fix_it">TED talk</a>, she suggests:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s our city. Let’s fix it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What this simple statement entails is profound: the <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/78107/">citizen’s right to the digital city</a>. It is a cultural shift in thinking that people have to be at the core of any smart city agenda. And urban dwellers ought to be enabled not only to actively participate in city-making, but also to lead such initiatives.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zMGE3mbS9NY?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Alessandra Orofino’s TED talk: It’s our city. Let’s fix it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are more and more accounts reminding us that the city is more than just a space governed by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/24/who-owns-our-cities-and-why-this-urban-takeover-should-concern-us-all">investments</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/somerville-mayor-happiness-policies">policies</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/25/we-cant-allow-the-tech-giants-to-rule-smart-cities">technology</a>. <a href="http://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/organisation/staff-members/content/w/a/b.g.m.dewaal/b.g.m.dewaal.html">Martijn de Waal</a> describes his notion of <a href="http://www.thecityasinterface.com">city as interface</a>. <a href="https://assetstewardship.com/asset-stewardship-team/barbara-thornton-bio/">Barbara Thornton</a> considers the <a href="http://platformed.info/city-as-a-platform-applying-platform-thinking-to-cities/">city as platform</a>. And <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Zuckerman">Ethan Zuckerman</a> takes us back to when cities were appreciated for their function as <a href="http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/05/12/chi-keynote-desperately-seeking-serendipity/">serendipity engines</a> that allow for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-design-smart-cities-for-getting-lost-56492">sagacious discovery of diversity</a>.</p>
<h2>Open and agile cities</h2>
<p>What comes hand in hand with this renewed focus on people is a changing role of local governments away from <a href="http://www.governmentnews.com.au/2012/08/moving-beyond-roads-rates-and-rubbish/">roads, rates and rubbish</a>, and towards enabler and facilitator, and towards cities being open and agile.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-future-will-be-built-on-open-data-heres-why-52785">Open data</a> is a pertinent example to illustrate this process. In the early days of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-government#Government_2.0">Government 2.0</a>, the focus was on identifying government-held datasets that could be made available in public repositories such as <a href="http://data.gov.au">data.gov.au</a>. </p>
<p>These days, the <a href="http://www.odiqueensland.org.au">Open Data Institute Queensland</a>, the <a href="http://oascities.org">Open &amp; Agile Smart Cities</a> network and other entities are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1139876">prompting governments to go further</a>: to support new private-public partnerships that bridge the common triad of disconnect between <a href="https://medium.com/sidewalk-talk/what-smart-cities-can-learn-from-singapore-s-smart-nation-e19a7efefa3a#.2dmd96xy7">technology and government</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot">government and people</a>, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/jan/22/inside-story-india-smart-city-gold-rush-it">people and technology</a>. Nationally, a leader of such partnership models is <a href="http://www.codeforaustralia.org">Code for Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Cat Matson is on a quest as the City of Brisbane’s chief digital officer to transform it into a <a href="http://catmatson.com.au/problem-smart-cities/">truly smart, connected city</a>. From her recent visit to Singapore, she brought back <a href="http://www.digitalbrisbane.com.au/Blog/CDO-Wrap-May-2016">key lessons</a> for Brisbane and other local governments:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Design a city (or a solution/system) that, when you’re no longer in government, you’ll be proud of.</li>
<li>Identify real problems, for industry, citizens or government, which could be solved with a digital solution.</li>
<li>Use design thinking to develop solutions to those problems.</li>
<li>Get as many stakeholders involved in that design-thinking process as possible.</li>
<li>Be smart about the role of government and industry in executing those solutions.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<h2>Spaces for urban and civic innovation</h2>
<p>Cities have not only to focus on people first and be open and agile, they also have to provide space – digital and physical – for people to come together and collaborate on urban and civic innovations. The most successful examples demonstrate an appreciation for a diverse range of places that form a <a href="http://urbanixd.eu">network</a> or a <a href="http://i-nq.com.au">local innovation ecosystem</a>.</p>
<p>Such spaces are not limited to the typical business startup incubators. In fact, they are often <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-an-innovation-skunkworks-51326">skunkworks</a> that are free, open and messy, because the process of creative imagination that leads to innovation is messy.</p>
<p>In London, the British government’s innovation program devoted to cities, the <a href="http://futurecities.catapult.org.uk">Future Cities Catapult</a>, has paired up with <a href="http://www.100resilientcities.org">100 Resilient Cities</a> and Ordnance Survey’s <a href="https://geovation.uk/hub/">Geovation Hub</a> to create the <a href="http://www.urbaninnovationcentre.org.uk">Urban Innovation Centre</a>.</p>
<p>In Vancouver, local universities and the City of Vancouver have partnered to create <a href="http://citystudiovancouver.com">CityStudio Vancouver</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… an innovation hub inside City Hall where staff, university students and community members co-create, design and launch projects on the ground. The central mission of CityStudio is to innovate and experiment with the ways cities are co-created, while teaching students the skills needed to collaborate on real projects in Vancouver with City staff and community stakeholders. These projects improve our city and enrich our neighbourhoods, making the city more liveable, joyful and sustainable.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/114150422" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Vancouver involves researchers, students and community members in its smart city agenda.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Melbourne, Code for Australia has opened the first <a href="http://www.codeforaustralia.org/civiclab/">Civic Lab</a>.</p>
<p>Considering Australia’s staggering <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_by_country">level of urbanisation</a> – close to 90% of the population – it will be paramount to think carefully about how best to invest in the future of our cities. Governments and policymakers have to recognise and enable people as active agents of change towards more habitable and sustainable cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Foth receives research funding from the Australian Research Council&#39;s Linkage Projects funding scheme and the Australian government&#39;s Low Income Energy Efficiency Program. He is a member of the Queensland Greens and was their 2015 Queensland state election candidate for Mount Isa.</span></em></p>Australia's Smart Cities Plan largely conveys a limited role for people: they live, work and consume. This neglects the rich body of work calling for better human engagement in smart cities.Marcus Foth, Professor, Urban Informatics, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/576632016-05-16T00:44:57Z2016-05-16T00:44:57ZHow ‘gamification’ can make transport systems and choices work better for us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120933/original/image-20160503-19538-1ve7dwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Using incentives drawn from game play, the peak-hour crush can be reduced, or avoided altogether.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/stilgherrian/4820063055/in/photolist-8kW5Pr-mVmgND-dpp4GX-e1A5u7-5BYsA-fyf8S-dpp4PB-dppeVo-83zxqq-qGDAjH-c7d3Km-9NGcbW-p4Uk49-e1uoKP-q7wLgf-5TPgH8-d47m7-8XgbJm-PmdjF-r1RcgE-bCyNPJ-dpp67R-5J4X4n-dppe1b-e3ofZL-e3hvt8-dxWxBf-dxWzZQ-9p2JvP-e3ofZ7-e3hvqH-e3hvsB-e3ofYE-aaoVEp-e1A57N-dxWybm-e1uou8-e1A4TQ-e3og13-e3hvrx-dxWCQb-e1unZi-e3hvsa-dxWxuC-e3ofZj-awexJ7-dxWA7N-dxWAGy-bZBAuL-bZByej">Stilgherrian/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Individual users and their behaviours are critical to how transport systems work. How can we better incentivise their behaviour to achieve policy goals such as shifting transport modes and reducing road trauma and traffic congestion? </p>
<p>Peak-hour congestion and peak loading, for example, are the twin most pressing issues for public transport agencies around the world. The search for low-cost “solutions” to such problems is a continuing challenge. By 2031, public transport patronage in many cities is expected have <a href="http://www.cabinet.qld.gov.au/documents/2010/jul/connecting%20seq%202031/Attachments/Draft%20Connecting%20SEQ%202031.pdf">doubled or even tripled in 25 years</a>. </p>
<p>Australian governments at all levels recognise this increasing demand, but infrastructure investments are facing long delays due to funding shortfalls. Instead of building costly new infrastructure – for example, the <a href="http://www.choosebrisbane.com.au/invest/why-brisbane/brisbanes-changing-landscape/bus-and-train-tunnel?sc_lang=en-au">A$5 billion Brisbane bus and train tunnel</a> – can we use transport capacity more efficiently to defer this investment? That is, how can we shift demand from peak to off-peak times? </p>
<h2>How about playing a game?</h2>
<p>A game is viewed as “an activity that is voluntary and enjoyable, and governed by rules”. Gamification incorporates elements of game play into an interactive system without having a fully fledged game as the end product. </p>
<p>Gamification can be defined as the “<a href="http://gamification-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/02-Deterding-Khaled-Nacke-Dixon.pdf">use of game design elements in non-game contexts</a>”. It introduces competition and social activity into behavioural interventions. The participants, such as public transport passengers, become “players” who can win individual or group rewards if they adjust their behaviour.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120922/original/image-20160503-19535-wg3teo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120922/original/image-20160503-19535-wg3teo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Conceptual gamification procedure applied to transport use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent evidence underlines the significance of a gamified approach to behaviour change. Currently, there are few case studies in the transport field. These may not be branded directly as gamification, but the concepts of these cases are borrowed from it. </p>
<h2>Active travel</h2>
<p>Gamified design has been used in the health field and can dramatically transform people’s health and physical activity levels. One example from the UK is the <a href="http://www.beatthestreet.me/">Beat the Street</a> initiative. In Reading, it has <a href="http://www.intelligenthealth.co.uk/best-foot-forward-for-reading-as-beat-the-street-returns/">encouraged thousands of residents to walk and cycle</a> for health benefits. </p>
<p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/BeattheStreet1/status/726795827226677248"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Another example of such <a href="http://www.activehealthykidsaustralia.com.au/siteassets/documents/ahka_reportcard_2015_web.pdf">programs in Australia</a> is Healthy Active School Travel. This is a free, tailored program proven to help primary school students, parents and teachers to leave the car at home and use sustainable travel modes to get to school. Examples include walking, cycling, riding a scooter, or taking public transport. </p>
<p>In participating schools in Brisbane, the program has helped to convert 35% of single-family car trips to school to an <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/public-transport/school-transport/active-school-travel-program">active and healthy transport mode</a>.</p>
<p>For these games, leaderboards are compiled and reported at all competition levels. Peer encouragement is strong. Low-cost rewards like stickers encourage students to make positive changes in their travel behaviour or participate in events such as scooter safety skills sessions. </p>
<p>Engagement remains strong throughout the year as each month has a new focus and a new prize. Examples include prizes for the “most children walking to school” in March, the “most children bike riding” in April, and the “most children scootering” in May.</p>
<h2>Public transport</h2>
<p>Gamification schemes have just been introduced in a public transport context for the first time via <a href="https://www.travelsmartrewards.sg/">Singapore’s INSINC program</a>. This aims to shift demand from peak to off-peak shoulder times in Singapore’s public transport system.</p>
<p>The scheme manages peak-hour congestion by offering incentives for commuters to travel in off-peak periods. These incentives include random (raffle-like) rewards, social influence and personalised offers. </p>
<p>A six-month research pilot, launched in January 2012, achieved a <a href="http://web.stanford.edu/%7Ebalaji/papers/13INSINC.pdf">7.49% shift from peak to off-peak hours</a> for all commuter trips. </p>
<h2>Road safety</h2>
<p>There are many gamified schemes and interventions to improve road safety, especially when it comes to young drivers. It is well established that they are over-represented in numbers of road accidents in any driver demographics.</p>
<p>In Australia, people in the 17-25 age group made up 12.4% of the population, but <a href="https://bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/files/Road_trauma_Australia_2014_statistical_summary_N_ISSN.pdf">20.5% of driver deaths and 20.2% of all deaths</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>To motivate young people to drive more safely, many interventions have been developed. Car insurance companies have designed some interventions. Examples include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://gametuned.com/about/">GAMETUNED</a> in the UK; </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9TlxdyYNUY">S-Drive</a> in Australia; </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.actuarios.org/espa/web-nueva/publicaciones/anales/2013/135-154.pdf">paying accident insurance by the kilometres driven</a> in the Netherlands; </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.tower.co.nz/car-insurance/smartdriver">SmartDrive</a> in New Zealand; </p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="http://sciencenordic.com/rewarding-safe-drivers-could-make-roads-safer">return insurance premium scheme</a> in Norway; and </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/11/the-swedish-approach-to-road-safety-the-accident-is-not-the-major-problem/382995/">starting bonuses</a> in Sweden. </p></li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A8dAUA4wKBU?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">S-Drive offers rewards for safe driving in Australia.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These gamified programs are designed to promote safe driving. Such programs fall into two categories: monetary rewards and a reward point scheme. </p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>Gamification is based on sound psychological and social theory and has had success in the transport field. </p>
<p>The important questions confronting transport agencies are not if and how gamification works, but where it may be useful and how to design a successful intervention. We know most about the approach’s efficacy in schools, but less about its efficacy with adults and in the transport context.</p>
<p>There is ample scope to harness a gamification approach in Australia to achieve transport-system-oriented goals. <a href="http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/technology-article.asp">Radio Frequency Identification card</a> or app technology could be used to encourage better use of new bicycle/pedestrian path infrastructure, or local area walking and cycling. </p>
<p>The potential to combine games and rewards with public transport travel is significant. It could provide additional behaviour change rewards for off-peak travel, encourage walking instead of vehicle access to public transport, or reward use of alternative public transport stops to avoid congested stations. </p>
<p>The outcomes could be tied to business-based travel plans where businesses can show improvements in their bottom lines from encouraging mode shift from car to public transport or active travel. Some of the incentives may then be underwritten through their savings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara T.H. Yen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Using elements of game play, we can create incentives for people to change how and when they make various transport choices in ways that enable the whole system to work better.Barbara T.H. Yen, Research Fellow at Urban Research Program, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/580442016-05-10T00:58:37Z2016-05-10T00:58:37ZMedia picture of urban consolidation focuses more on a good scare story than the facts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119619/original/image-20160421-8007-3wpfb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C95%2C4000%2C1964&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Proposed developments in Brisbane illustrate the scale of urban consolidation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/brisbanecitycouncil/21282543675/">flickr/Brisbane City Council</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Neighbourhoods as “battlefields”, “<a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/new-developments-to-turn-brisbane-into-sardine-central/news-story/bffa3f329ddaaa30f163ab264c2428dd">sardine city</a>”, traditional suburbs as “threatened species” and urban hubs as the domain of “latte-sipping yuppies”. These are examples of the dramatic and negative imagery Queensland newspapers use to describe <a href="http://www.sage.unsw.edu.au/currentstudents/ug/projects/Wallace/consolidation.html">urban consolidation</a> in Brisbane. </p>
<p><a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/defining-density-debate-brisbane-how-urban-consolidation-represented-media">Our research</a> identifies depictions of urban consolidation in Brisbane by five newspapers: <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/">The Courier Mail</a> and Sunday Mail, <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/">Brisbane Times</a>, <a href="http://quest.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx">Northside Chronicle</a> and <a href="http://quest.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx">South-East Advertiser</a>. Our examination of 456 articles from 2007 to 2014 reveals a glut of negative imagery. </p>
<p>Urban consolidation is predominantly depicted as dangerous and uncontrollable. Dire warnings abound of a city bursting at the seams and sustained assaults on the Australian suburban dream. </p>
<p>Newspapers remain powerful forces despite their <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/11/13/magical-newspapers-take-a-hammering-in-circulation-figures/">declining fortunes in recent times</a>. Their capacity to shape public opinion remains strong. So how do Queensland newspapers heighten the drama of consolidated urban development? And what imagery do they use to sustain the narrative?</p>
<h2>Planning responses to growth</h2>
<p>Cities are rapidly changing all over the world as urban populations grow. Urban consolidation has become a common planning response. It focuses on concentrating growth in existing urban areas. This involves the delivery of higher-density housing and mixed-use developments.</p>
<p>Urban consolidation is often advocated as a neat solution to increasing populations, decreasing housing affordability and unsustainable urban sprawl. It is now a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837714000301">key planning policy in many Australian cities</a>, including all of the capitals. </p>
<p>Of the 156,000 additional dwellings forecast to be developed in Brisbane between 2006 and 2031, <a href="http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/7916/seq-regional-plan-2009.pdf">The South East Queensland Regional Plan</a> has set the goal of delivering 88% in areas targeted for consolidation. The over-arching priority is to accommodate an <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/seq-population-growth-needs-12-springfieldstyle-mega-cities-to-cope-planner-20150626-ghyxzb.html">ever-increasing urban population</a> within existing boundaries.</p>
<p>Evidence of implementation in Brisbane can be seen all over the inner city and throughout inner and middle-ring suburbs. Apartment and unit development projects are proceeding at pace. This is leading to a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/brisbane-unit-approvals-skyrocket-20150716-gie6b9.html">huge upswing in approvals</a> and new stock coming to market.</p>
<h2>The drama of consolidated development</h2>
<p>Media reports predominantly capture the drama of consolidated development with references to warfare or natural disasters. Articles commonly refer to floods of development or a city under siege.</p>
<p>Local politicians opposed to consolidation are characterised as saviours of the people. These white knights stand strong, benignly offering their constituents protection from the destruction of over-development.</p>
<p>Dramatic physiological language is used in articles discussing high-density apartment buildings. Such places are characterised as choking the city or ripping the heart out of its suburbs. Increasing urban densities are presented as threatening the overall health of the city.</p>
<p>Apartments are depicted as “shoeboxes”, “rabbit hutches” and “charmless chunks of brick”. The people who choose to live in them are routinely portrayed as outsiders. They are the unwelcome intruders who are taking over the city and corrupting traditional suburban values.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119620/original/image-20160421-8023-1dh59j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119620/original/image-20160421-8023-1dh59j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brisbane is portrayed as a battleground where leafy suburbs are under threat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brisbane_City_Train_Lines.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/Lachlan Fearnley</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By contrast, articles featuring direct quotes from developers and planners tend to use more moderate imagery. Consolidation is portrayed more commonly as a means to create quality places to “live, work and play”. Associated images are usually consumption-based and focus on the benefits of access to inner-city employment and amenities.</p>
<p>While some imagery depicting cosmopolitan lifestyles finds traction, it is regularly offset by images of the declining suburban dream.</p>
<p>Usually this involves images of the “real Australians” whose happy suburban lives are threatened by over-development. These rarefied beings live on a median wage and host friendly barbecues in a suburb near you. Their depiction is far removed from that of their inner-city counterparts sipping lattes and swirling expensive wine.</p>
<h2>(Mis)representing urban realities</h2>
<p><a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/defining-density-debate-brisbane-how-urban-consolidation-represented-media">Our research</a> suggests Queensland newspapers create a sense of danger around urban consolidation in Brisbane. They perpetuate mostly negative imagery, referencing war, death and disease. Increased urban density becomes associated with towering buildings, faceless residents and unhealthy places. </p>
<p>Yet this isn’t necessarily the reality. Urban consolidation in Brisbane occurs as a result of managed planning processes. It is designed to meet the city’s current and future development needs. Developments generally occur in accordance with zoning regulations and development plans. </p>
<p>Newspapers have a tradition of sensationalising and simplifying news stories. And depictions of urban consolidation in Brisbane do tend towards sensationalism. The drama of consolidated development appears to work well to fill column inches and sell papers. </p>
<p>We argue that the use of negative imagery in Queensland newspapers relies more on subjective judgements than facts. Visions of unplanned, laissez-faire urban consolidation subsuming Brisbane are generally at odds with reality. Is the adage of not letting facts get in the way of a good story ringing true once more?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Matthews receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research on harmonising social and planning policy to support transitions to a low-carbon society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Raynor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the media, urban consolidation is often depicted as a threat to Australian suburban life. In reality, it's a result of managed planning processes to ensure growing cities remain liveable.Katrina Raynor, PhD Candidate in Urban Studies, Queensland University of TechnologyTony Matthews, Lecturer in Urban & Environmental Planning, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/559282016-03-29T03:25:35Z2016-03-29T03:25:35ZHow can a city keep its character if its landmark views aren't protected?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115653/original/image-20160319-4450-1wr7eht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of the architects of 443 Queen Street says: &#39;The Queenslander – elevated on stilts and open to natural ventilation – was an inspiration for the tower&#39;.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Artist&#39;s Impression</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Landmarks identify and define cities. Town-planning instruments usually protect these landmarks from development that does not respect the setting. But inappropriate development is placing one of Brisbane’s most important landmarks in danger. A proposed 47-storey tower <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/uq-at-loggerheads-over-47storey-tower-near-customs-house-20160111-gm3ols.html">threatens Customs House</a>, on Queen Street, from being seen as it was intended to be.</p>
<p>Such developments are neither a new problem nor unique to Brisbane. The “Toaster” apartment building <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-16/sydney-opera-house-and-toaster-building/2842048">has compromised</a> the view of the Sydney Opera House. In Melbourne, the proposed shards of Federation Square <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/23/1034561537857.html">threatened the view</a> of St Paul’s Cathedral from St Kilda Road at Princes Bridge. The impacts of both of these actions were very much an afterthought.</p>
<p>In London, it was realised as the Shard Tower was being constructed that it would <a href="http://www.metropolitiques.eu/Skyline-policy-the-Shard-and.html">affect the view</a> of St Paul’s Cathedral. Lord Mayor Boris Johnson thus moved to protect views of the cathedral from specific vantage points with a clear viewshed diagram to ensure the dome can still be seen from identified locations. This demonstrates how best to pre-empt what may happen in the future, prevent unsuitable outcomes and protect views of landmarks.</p>
<h2>The Customs House case study</h2>
<p>Brisbane’s <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-building/planning-guidelines-tools/brisbane-city-plan-2014">city plan</a> has prescribed a heritage precinct around Customs House and the adjoining land to the north to ensure views of it are protected. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115548/original/image-20160318-16349-gtbuj3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115548/original/image-20160318-16349-gtbuj3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proposed development, seen from Queen Street, which blocks the view to the Story Bridge and Brisbane River.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WOHA and Architectus</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the Brisbane City Council late last year approved the tower, which is to be built immediately to the north of Customs House. This proposed building is to replace a four-storey block that was already too large. </p>
<p>By approving this development, the council has ignored its own regulations. These were put in place to protect not only views of Customs House from the northern end, but also to allow views across the site to the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge from Queen Street in the other direction.</p>
<p>The design of Customs House, completed in 1889, was unusually accomplished. It responded to its particular site at the bend in Queen Street, which is the closest point to the river.</p>
<p>Views of the building from various points in the city and river are possible and intended. The most important view, however, is of the northern end, from Queen Street and the open space to the north.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115538/original/image-20160318-3179-mwje39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115538/original/image-20160318-3179-mwje39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Intended view of Customs House from the north.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Postcard circa 1900</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The building has a dome placed over its Long Room, positioned eccentrically at one end. This was intentional and informed by Customs House’s setting: the oblique views made it difficult to determine that the dome was not central.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115551/original/image-20160318-16324-5qt7iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115551/original/image-20160318-16324-5qt7iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oblique views of Customs House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this way, the building is quite different to other landmarks, such as the General Post Office, where the main view to be protected is the front elevation, seen perpendicular to Queen Street. The city plan should include a diagram of the protected viewshed for each landmark in the city to prevent unsuitable developments that could have a detrimental impact on a landmark’s setting.</p>
<p>It is common practice to protect a landmark’s principal view. For Customs House, however, this is not the street elevation or the river elevation, but the various oblique views from further away, particularly the northern end with its semi-circular projection.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115554/original/image-20160318-16353-1fv0ybj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115554/original/image-20160318-16353-1fv0ybj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comparative heights of the proposed and existing buildings to Customs House’s north.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although Customs House occupies part of a heritage precinct, no specific viewshed diagram has been made that would be able to prevent the current proposal. Nevertheless, that a precinct had been identified for Customs House and its adjoining lands should have been enough to protect it. </p>
<p>The existing building to the north, built in 1987 before the <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/Q/QldHeritageA92.pdf">Queensland Heritage Act</a> existed, is already too large. It did not comply with the Australian Heritage Commission’s determination that was given before it was built. The council made the mistake of approving it then, and will compound its error if the current proposal is allowed to proceed.</p>
<p>The federal Australian Heritage Commission has long been dismantled as state heritage controls were established. The Queensland Heritage Act followed similar legislation in other states but came considerably later and only after public outrage at demolitions such as the <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bellevue-hotel-was-cheaper-to-knock-down-20091231-lkui.html">Bellevue Hotel</a> and <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/thirty-years-since-our-dreamworld-fell-20121106-28w28.html">Cloudland</a>. That was in the Bjelke-Petersen pro-development era – a time that now seems to be repeating itself.</p>
<p>If we care about Brisbane and its landmarks, this development should not be allowed to proceed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert John Riddel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Landmarks identify and define cities. Town-planning instruments should protect these landmarks from new development that does not respect the setting.Robert John Riddel, Adjunct Professor in Architecture, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/510472016-01-19T19:32:56Z2016-01-19T19:32:56ZConcrete jungle? We'll have to do more than plant trees to bring wildlife back to our cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108492/original/image-20160119-31807-w6r4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It looks great – but what about the wildlife?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tree image from www.shutterstock.com.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal environment and acting cities minister, Greg Hunt, on Tuesday pledged to <a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/01/19/06/40/federal-govt-plan-to-make-cities-greener">increase the number of trees</a> in Australian cities. In a bid to fight higher urban temperatures, the plan will set targets for tree cover. </p>
<p>This is part of a green revolution spreading through the world’s cities. From New York to Singapore, urban areas are undertaking bold “greenspace” initiatives – removing concrete and allowing trees and vegetation back in.</p>
<p>Some of the benefits include replacing the ugly infrastructural trappings of vehicles and <a href="http://www.the606.org/#heroAnchor">motorways</a> as well as cooling cities, absorbing air pollution and minimising runoff. These greenings further have mental health benefits, by bringing residents and visitors alike back into <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/dec/01/nature-urbanisation-david-attenborough">contact with the land</a>. </p>
<p>But what about wildlife? Trees alone aren’t enough to bring back nature. In the rush to create greenspace, we have to make sure we build it in a way to help wildlife thrive. That will take careful thought and planning.</p>
<h2>Nature paved over</h2>
<p>Many of the world’s cities don’t have anything special to offer in terms of nature – either because they never had all that much in the first place, or they’ve long since been lost to urban development. </p>
<p>Melbourne is a case of the latter. James Boyce (in his book <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/products/9781863956000/1835-founding-melbourne-conquest-australia">1835</a>) records: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>By the time Anthony Trollope visited, then a city of 206,000 “souls” in the early 1870s, the city had already largely turned its back on the Yarra [River], drained the swamps, filled in the lakes and flattened the hills, so that Trollope knew “of no great town in the neighbourhood of which there is less to see in the way of landscape beauty”. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>That sounds like many a world city. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108542/original/image-20160119-29793-1ygk0mn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108542/original/image-20160119-29793-1ygk0mn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reconstruction of Williams Creek, Melbourne, which now lies under the city’s asphalt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">RMIT</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://thames-landscape-strategy.org.uk/">London</a>, <a href="http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/the-high-line">New York</a>, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/hamburg-is-building-a-giant-green-roof-cover-over-sections-of-the-a7-motorway/">Hamburg</a>, <a href="http://grist.org/list/2011-12-27-in-madrid-a-highway-becomes-a-park/">Madrid</a>, <a href="http://www.thenatureofcities.com/2015/11/09/history-the-detroit-river-and-building-an-international-wildlife-refuge-right/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNatureOfCities+%28The+Nature+of+Cities%29">Detroit</a>, <a href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/dam/city/depts/cdot/Green_Alley_Handbook_2010.pdf">Chicago</a>, <a href="http://grist.org/infrastructure/2011-04-04-seoul-korea-tears-down-an-urban-highway-life-goes-on/">Seoul</a> and <a href="https://www.cbd.int/doc/meetings/city/subws-2014-01/other/subws-2014-01-presentation-singapore-en.pdf">Singapore</a> are among cities that have undertaken bold greenspace initiatives. These cities have recognised the distinct benefits that flow from connecting people back to the natural world.</p>
<p>Detroit and Singapore have strong biodiversity themes and that’s needed too given the <a href="http://www.livingplanetindex.org/home/index">global decline in wildlife</a>. Such initiatives help us to view cities from a non-human-centric perspective. </p>
<h2>i-Tree world</h2>
<p>Back in Australia “green infrastructure” has similarly taken hold with councils, property owners and private companies signing up to a <a href="http://202020vision.com.au/media/41955/202020visionplan.pdf">national 202020 vision</a> to create 20% more greenspace by 2020. The main underpinning of that “greenspace” is the “urban forest”.</p>
<p>While urban forest has a broad definition, cities usually take it to mean tree cover. This has been revolutionised and driven by <a href="https://www.itreetools.org/">satellite mapping</a> (known as i-Tree) from the US Department of Agriculture. </p>
<p>This mapping has recently been used to shed light on the <a href="http://202020vision.com.au/media/7141/final-report_140930.pdf">performance of Australia’s municipalities</a>. Ranking them according to their percentage of tree cover, parts of Melbourne and Sydney scored badly, with many suburbs having less than 20% tree cover overall. Brisbane scored well, with most areas having more than 50% tree cover.</p>
<p>As cities attempt to increase canopies, it’s worth noting that these trees will have to deal with increasing <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/sydney-storm-trees-uprooted-and-roofs-damaged-by-high-winds/news-story/f0b847d7d3a4a65329bfccba7fca4d2d">extreme weather</a> as the world warms. </p>
<h2>Rewilding the city</h2>
<p>However, trees on their own won’t bring wildlife back into our cities. In fact, canopies tend to create spaces for dominant native birds such as the Noisy Miner and Red Wattlebird, which by their behaviour <a href="https://theconversation.com/stop-the-miners-you-can-help-australias-birds-by-planting-native-gardens-49998">exclude smaller birds</a>. </p>
<p>Birdlife Australia <a href="http://birdlife.org.au/all-about-birds/birds-in-backyards">suggests</a> that a dense understory of shrubs up to two metres high is required for small ground birds like thornbills, robins, scrubwrens and fairy-wrens to roost in and make brief forays into grassed areas. Thickets also provide protection from eagles and hawks and other predators. </p>
<p>The Victorian naturalist <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s4223.htm">Alan Reid</a> suggested: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a mixture of fine-leaf and broad-leaf plants with a high percentage of native species, especially at intermediate and ground levels, will provide the greatest opportunities for attracting and holding wildlife.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Private gardens have inadvertently edged towards this prescription, along the way forming “nuclei” for wildlife. To create these on public land, areas will need to be set aside in parklands and other community spaces where small birds and small animals can congregate, breed and flourish. </p>
<p>This may require fencing to counter fox and cat predation, and possibly incorporate bird hides, interpretative apps and surveillance to ensure personal security. We need to give attention to the subtle connections between species.</p>
<p>Wildlife corridors are another construct – in effect they’re flyways for larger birds. Some of these already take advantage of the routes provided by revegetated creek and river banks. </p>
<p>Reid suggests that “corridors as narrow as 5 metres will allow passage of lorikeets and wattlebirds even when gaps exceed 30 metres”. </p>
<p>But if the gaps in 20-metre-wide corridors grow to more than 30 metres they will block many upper-level feeders including <a href="http://museumvictoria.com.au/forest/animals/swordgrass.html">butterflies</a>, pygmy possums and marsupial mice.</p>
<p>As the take-up of greening in places like New York, Hamburg and Seoul shows, it’s becoming mainstream in city halls around the world. And we now know that it helps <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-there-room-for-nature-in-our-cities-12145">settle the brains</a> of those otherwise enmeshed in asphalt, glass and concrete.</p>
<p>There are some encouraging signs that developers “get it”: witness Singapore building an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com.au/singapores-cloud-forest-revolutionizes-green-spaces-2015-11">entire forest</a> in a high-rise apartment atrium. A connection-to-nature element also forms part of the revamped Green Building Council of Australia’s <a href="https://www.gbca.org.au/uploads/68/34884/Occupant%20Engagement.pdf">Innovation Challenge Program</a>. Let’s hope it won’t be long before that awareness spills over into <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/minister-for-cities-can-jamie-briggs-find-our-commuter-holy-grail/news-story/2613006fdf5bff65bc88b33b1a14d388">popular planning thought</a>. </p>
<p>As the world continues to change under human pressure, we need to make sure our cities can be homes for wildlife too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Fisher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities are aiming to increase their tree cover. But there will need to be more than trees to encourage wildlife to return.Peter Fisher, Adjunct Professor, Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/381662015-03-02T19:20:44Z2015-03-02T19:20:44ZBrisbane Olympics case difficult to make<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73392/original/image-20150302-16166-g9bnae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brisbane successfully hosted the 2014 G20 Leader&#39;s Summit, but hosting the Olympic Games would come at a far greater cost.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-to-bid-for-2028-olympic-games-20150226-13p86l.html">said</a> he wants Brisbane to put in a bid for the 2028 Olympic Games. Any bid would be costly and would need the backing of all the councils in South East Queensland and support from both State and federal governments. The bid alone could cost up to <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ioc-says-oslo-pullout-of-twenty-twenty-two-winter-olympics-underscores-need-for-change/2470073.html">A$100 million</a>, and that’s before the Games are even awarded. So, before any money is spent, we might want to ask why Brisbane would want the Olympic Games anyway. </p>
<p>There are strong economic arguments to suggest hosting the Olympics could be a good thing. The economic impact would certainly be significant. The London Olympics claims to have brought in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224181/1188-B_Meta_Evaluation.pdf">800,000 overseas visitors</a> with an economic impact of £890 million. They also argue it created around 70,000 permanent and temporary jobs. </p>
<p>The global media coverage of mega-events (such as the Olympics or Commonwealth Games) is also an important factor, resulting in more visitors travelling to the city after the event, as the figures from the UK suggest.</p>
<p>Mega events are also a great way to showcase the host city on social media. During the recent <a href="www.thecgf.com/games/2014/G2014-Official-Post-Games-Report.pdf">Commonwealth Games</a> in Glasgow, the city was mentioned over a million times on social media. This publicity would be hard to come by any other way.</p>
<p>The Olympic Games could also be a catalyst for improved transport links and sporting infrastructure throughout South East Queensland, similar to those improvements currently being made on the Gold Coast in advance of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. These include the new Gold Coast tram network, the Commonwealth swimming complex and road improvements around the new athletes village.</p>
<h2>Money well spent?</h2>
<p>However, let’s look at this more carefully. According to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/31/host-olympic-games-cost">The Guardian</a>, underestimating Olympic costs has almost become an Olympic sport in itself. </p>
<p>The budget for the Winter Olympics held in Sochi in early 2014 was around US$10 billion, but the Games eventually cost around US$51 billion. This makes it the most expensive Olympics ever. It is likely that hosting the Games in Australia would cost considerably less, as much of the basic infrastructure is already in place. But could Brisbane, or even Australia, contemplate a cost of this order of magnitude?</p>
<p>And what about the opportunity costs? Shouldn’t the State and federal governments be spending taxpayer money on domestic priorities, such as health and education, rather than on bidding for the Olympic Games? One of the strongest ground-roots anti-Olympic movements to date, the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/bread-not-circuses-voices-concerns-to-ioc-1.295757">Bread not Circuses</a> movement based in Toronto, successfully stopped a bid by Toronto to host the Olympic Games in 2008. They argued it was wrong to spend money bidding for the Olympic Games when there were public sector budget cuts and a shortage of housing. A similar popular movement in Brisbane could be equally damaging to any potential Olympic bid.</p>
<p>There is also a danger that publicly funded sporting infrastructure may become a “white elephant” - following the Olympics in Athens, many of the purpose-built venues now lie <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2723515/Athens-Olympics-leave-mixed-legacy-10-years-later.html">empty, unused and decaying</a>. Of course, presumably some of the new Gold Coast facilities, created for the Commonwealth Games in 2018, would form part of any Olympics Bid. This would certainly allay fears of these facilities becoming white elephants, at least in the short term. But this is a long-term game.</p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest advantage of a Brisbane Olympic Games would not be the temporary economic boost from visitors, or the global showcasing opportunity, but rather the opportunity to create a better and more liveable South East Queensland for the people who live there. This is the legacy of a successful mega-event. But this is also problematic in the case of Brisbane. </p>
<p>Mega events have often been the catalyst for redeveloping deprived inner-city areas. Hosting such events has also spurred on improvements in transport and infrastructure for disadvantaged or marginalised sections of the population. This urban regeneration formed a key part of the London Olympic bid. But, South East Queensland does not have the large areas of urban wastelands that were to be found in other Victorian cities, such as London and Glasgow. In fact, Brisbane prides itself on being a “new world city”.</p>
<p>Other Olympic host cities, such as Rio de Janiero in Brazil,have used the opportunity offered by the Olympics to address long-standing poverty and disadvantage, with some degree of success. But South-East Queensland arguably does not need to stage an Olympic Games to address these issues. </p>
<p>So what can the Olympics offer Brisbane in the long term? Any worthwhile legacy must be planned - it doesn’t happen by itself. If planned well, the long term benefits for local residents may be worth the enormous costs of bidding for and staging the Games. As yet, that remains a big “if”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Mair ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d&#39;une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n&#39;a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son poste universitaire.</span></em></p>Brisbane's Lord Mayor may want to see the city host the Olympic Games, but former hosts have made residents wary of promised benefits.Judith Mair, Senior Lecturer in Event Management, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/352052015-01-05T19:23:46Z2015-01-05T19:23:46ZBad luck, Brisbane: muggy cities will feel future heat even more<p>Several Australian cities, such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-01/south-australia-to-swelter-as-heat-spell-looms/5995690">Adelaide</a> and <a href="http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/heat-warning-as-temperatures-in-perth-forecast-to-soar-to-41c/story-fnhocxo3-1227174069845?nk=c20318fc5326e96c7db65d276cba3cb3">Perth</a>, have greeted 2015 with scorching weather as summer hits its stride – the kind of conditions that leave us crying out for an air conditioner, rather than dreaming of barbeques and beach trips. </p>
<p>Yet new research shows that Australians could end up feeling even hotter than expected over the next few decades, as changing weather conditions make climate change feel even more severe than it is. That’s bad news for Sydney and Brisbane, where sweltering humidity is set to rise. </p>
<p>In contrast, freshening summer winds in Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne could grant residents some relief by mitigating the apparent effects of rising temperatures. The mercury will still rise, but perhaps it won’t feel quite as sweltering as we would expect.</p>
<h2>Feeling the heat</h2>
<p>Days upon days of extreme heat make us feel irritable, uncomfortable and, in the worst cases, unable to cool down at all. Stifling conditions during the day, with no relief at night, place <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-heat-can-make-your-body-melt-down-from-the-inside-out-22042">physical stress on our bodies</a>. During heatwaves, vulnerable citizens such as the elderly, young children and the physically ill have a higher risk of adverse health effects. In some cases the stress can become too much, resulting in death.</p>
<p>In January 2009, a week before the devastating Black Saturday bushfires, <a href="http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/F7EEA4050981101ACA257AD80074AE8B/%24FILE/heat_health_impact_rpt_Vic2009.pdf">374 people</a> lost their lives as a result of heat-related stress during a three-day record heatwave in Melbourne. This was more than twice the number that died during the fires. Despite the implementation of <a href="http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/479050E85C879831CA257D8C0015FD87/%24FILE/Heat%20health%20alert%20system_guidance%202014%20-%202015.pdf">heatwave alert systems</a> in some Australian cities, many people are still vulnerable. An estimated <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-13/january-victorian-heatwave-deaths-up-24-per-cent/5810176">167 people</a> lost their lives during Melbourne’s heatwave in January 2014.</p>
<h2>Keep your cool</h2>
<p>The human body’s ability to withstand heat stress depends on being able to shed excess heat, often through sweating, to keep our core temperature at an optimal 37C. Very warm outdoor temperatures, or excessive exposure to the sun, heat our bodies. However, shedding that heat depends not only on the surrounding air temperature, but also on factors such as humidity and wind speed, both of which affect our ability to sweat effectively. </p>
<p>This can mean that the heat we think we feel is not necessarily the same as the air temperature we measure. That’s why a 35C day in Brisbane can feel so much worse than a 35C day in Melbourne!</p>
<p>Taking account of these factors allows meteorologists to predict what the weather conditions will “feel like” to an average person. For example, the Bureau of Meteorology uses a measure called the <a href="http://www.bom.gov.au/info/thermal_stress/">apparent temperature</a>. Measuring weather conditions in this way provides a better idea of when conditions are dangerous to health, so that appropriate warnings can be issued.</p>
<h2>Which cities will fare the best?</h2>
<p>Many recent studies show that <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-council-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-and-more-frequent-23253">extreme heat is increasing</a> around Australia, <a href="https://theconversation.com/human-hands-are-all-over-australias-hottest-ever-year-32267">mostly as a result of human-induced climate change</a>. But are we actually feeling any hotter? <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818113001343">Recent work</a> by one of us (S.J.) showed that alongside the increase in air temperature, the apparent temperature (how we feel), has also changed across Australia. </p>
<p>In Sydney and Brisbane, the apparent temperature has increased by 1C since the 1950s, but the actual temperature has only increased by 0.5C. This means that what felt like 29C in the 1950s now feels like over 30C, on average. This is because the humidity has increased and it is slightly less windy on average in both locations. These muggier conditions make the weather feel hotter, as the body is unable to shed excess heat as effectively.</p>
<p>Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne fared better. Although, on average, it is nearly 1C warmer now than in the 1950s, people in these cities may not actually feel warmer. This is because it is also typically windier, so sweat can evaporate more effectively when it is hot, making us feel cooler than the real temperature suggests. </p>
<p>The largest trends in apparent temperature were found in Western Australia, with the Pilbara and the Wheatbelt hit hardest. In these regions, what felt like 38C in the late 1970s now feels like 41C, on average, potentially increasing the risk of heat stress to miners and farmers alike.</p>
<h2>It’s getting hot in here</h2>
<p>In the future, Australian heatwaves will likely become <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-angry-more-often-march-heatwave-signals-a-new-normal-13068">hotter, longer and more frequent</a> as the climate changes. But what are the consequences for the risk of heat stress?</p>
<p>Future changes in apparent temperature are somewhat uncertain. While we are confident of the forthcoming increases in temperature, we are less certain about how humidity and wind will change. Regardless, the data suggest that apparent temperatures will increase in most Australian regions – so wherever you are, it’s likely you’ll feel the rise in temperatures. </p>
<p>But the speed of the perceived warming is also important if humans are to adapt. If things get too hot to handle too quickly, communities will have little time to adjust, resulting in a dangerous situation for health.</p>
<p>The largest changes will be in Australia’s southeast, where climate models suggest that for the millions of people in Melbourne and Sydney, future summers will feel like they are warming even faster than the real temperature suggests, because of an increase in humid days. Residents in these cities will therefore be at a higher risk of heat stress when a heatwave strikes. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, in the southwest, Perth’s drying climate will act to slow the rate of perceived warming, enabling residents to adapt more easily to the new conditions. </p>
<p>Human-induced climate change is happening and we are already starting to feel the effects. Coping with the infamous Australian summer is already difficult, but in the future it might become even more stressful for some.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35205/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Jacobs receives funding from the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities. She is affiliated with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ailie Gallant receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Several Australian cities, such as Adelaide and Perth, have greeted 2015 with scorching weather as summer hits its stride – the kind of conditions that leave us crying out for an air conditioner, rather…Stephanie Jacobs, PhD candidate, Monash UniversityAilie Gallant, ARC DECRA Fellow, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/353632014-12-11T19:33:43Z2014-12-11T19:33:43ZComplacency rules as Queensland makes risky edict on sea-level rise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66950/original/image-20141211-6048-1k8fpmy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=14%2C19%2C1185%2C880&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scarborough, Queensland: no longer allowed to factor in sea-level rise in its planning laws.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Seo75/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney’s decision, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-09/seeney-removes-climate-change-references-from-council-plan/5954914">revealed this week</a>, to order a Brisbane council to remove future sea-level rise from its planning regulations seems a rather short-sighted thing to do. </p>
<p>His directive, issued to Moreton Bay Regional Council in the city’s north, flies in the face of the overwhelming scientific consensus that average global sea levels will rise by 2100. </p>
<p>For several years, governments across Australia and the world have factored in a sea-level rise of 0.8 m into their coastal planning schemes. The most <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter13_FINAL.pdf">recent evidence</a> presented by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests that this may even be too conservative.</p>
<p>Yet as certainty over future sea-level rise increases, planning protections are being <a href="http://theconversation.com/scrapping-sea-level-protection-puts-australian-homes-at-risk-21271">wound back right across Australia</a>. Since winning the 2012 Queensland election, Campbell Newman’s government has joined <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/national/nsw_revokes_coastal_erosion_laws_e1v1rvRhQm3NkuQrVkiw3J">New South Wales</a> and <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/state-eases-sea-level-regulations-20120605-1zu9i.html">Victoria</a> in removing sea-level rise from state government policy, and is evidently now pressing local governments to do the same. </p>
<h2>Planning backflip</h2>
<p>The previous Queensland Labor government had introduced a detailed <a href="http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/coastalplan/pdf/qcp-web.pdf">Coastal Plan</a>, requiring local governments to plan for a 0.8m sea-level rise by 2100, and featuring detailed mapping of the areas most at risk. </p>
<p>The plan was suspended not long after the election, and when the Newman government released its <a href="http://www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/about-planning/state-planning-policy.html">final policy</a> in December 2013, all references to sea-level rise were omitted. Deputy Premier Seeney <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/sea-levels-no-longer-included-in-state-government-planning/story-fnihsrf2-1226778167541">explained his rationale</a> by saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… we believe local governments are the best placed to make planning decisions according to their local circumstances and their communities and we are empowering them to do so.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Moreton Bay Regional Council made the decision to do just that, incorporating a projected 0.8m sea-level rise into its draft planning scheme. This decision, while attracting the ire of some local residents, was deemed necessary by the Council to protect themselves from a clearly foreseeable liability. </p>
<p>The decision was initially given a green light by Seeney, who in a <a href="https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/uploadedFiles/common/meetings/mbrc/2014/COORDINATION%20CTEE%20Report%20Supporting%20Information%2011%20February%202014.pdf">letter to the council</a> in January 2014 stated that: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Each coastal local government should proceed to determine the extent of coastal hazards in the manner it considers appropriate and plan accordingly. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But Seeney has since changed his mind, as a letter made public this week shows (see page 33 of the <a href="https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/uploadedFiles/common/meetings/mbrc/2014/CO20141209_agenda.pdf">council’s minutes</a>). He ordered the council to remove</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…any assumption about theoretical projected sea level rise due to climate change, </p>
</blockquote>
<p>and decreed that the scheme </p>
<blockquote>
<p>…must reflect only proven historical data when dealing with coastal hazards such as storm tide inundation and erosion. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Legal implications</h2>
<p>It is unclear whether other coastal councils will be given the same directions, but this decision may signal a broader trend of preventing local governments from planning properly for future sea-level rise.</p>
<p>Legally, Moreton Bay Regional Council might be able to defend itself against claims of negligence by pointing out that a minister ordered it not to include rising seas in its planning scheme.</p>
<p>But the situation is far from clear. Under negligence law, a council may still potentially be held liable for failing to consider the impact of sea-level rise on a particular proposed development, despite the planning scheme being silent on the issue. </p>
<p>Councils thus find themselves in the awkward position of facing appeals from developers if they refuse a proposal on the basis of sea-level rise, but also facing negligence claims in the future if they approve a development that is later affected by rising seas. </p>
<p>New planning legislation will be introduced in Queensland next year, which looks set to remove local governments’ liability for anything done in complying with a minister’s orders. But until then, local governments are in an extremely difficult position.</p>
<h2>Suing the state?</h2>
<p>Even if local governments are let off the hook, the state government could still face negligence claims. The weight of scientific evidence, coupled with the previous government’s efforts to compile sea-level risk data for the entire Queensland coastline, would make such lawsuits very difficult to defend. </p>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/C/CivilLiabA03.pdf">Queensland law</a>, government’s actions (or non-actions) are not considered unlawful unless “the act or omission was in the circumstances so unreasonable that no public or other authority having the functions of the authority in question could properly consider the act or omission to be a reasonable exercise of its functions”. But a failure to consider overwhelming scientific evidence may well meet even this very high threshold of unreasonableness.</p>
<p>Even if liability is disclaimed even further, the problem is not going to go away. Experience with past natural disasters such as the 2010-11 Queensland floods shows that, where homeowners are un- or under-insured, governments and taxpayers ultimately end up footing the bill. Buying insurance for actions of the sea is already notoriously difficult, and may become even harder as coastal development continues. </p>
<p>Governments no doubt have challenging decisions to make, and planning for future sea-level rise will not be universally popular. Yes, including sea-level rise may reduce property values and increase insurance premiums. But deferring action will mean that more properties are built in hazard-prone areas. </p>
<p>The time will eventually come when governments cannot ignore this issue, and by then there may be even more properties with reduced value and increased insurance premiums. </p>
<p>Planning for impacts now will let governments spread the huge cost burden of dealing with sea-level rise over time. Waiting will just make the problem even more expensive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Bell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney’s decision, revealed this week, to order a Brisbane council to remove future sea-level rise from its planning regulations seems a rather short-sighted thing to do…Justine Bell-James, Postdoctoral Fellow in Law, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308742014-10-22T01:06:54Z2014-10-22T01:06:54ZWhat Brisbane's ferries can teach us about funding public transport<p>Traditional funding sources are becoming inadequate to meet public transport demands in Australian cities, despite the broad economic and social benefits public transport brings, such as cost savings associated with reduced traffic congestion, productivity through improved job creation, competitiveness and livability. </p>
<p>In 2013 around <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/3218.0%7E2012-13%7EMain+Features%7EMain+Features?OpenDocument#PARALINK0">two-thirds of Australia’s population</a> resided in a capital city. By 2061, the Australian Bureau of Statistics forecasts this proportion will increase to <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/mf/3222.0">74%</a>. This population growth is creating pressure for public transport systems and infrastructure, and governments need to find alternative funding resources.</p>
<p>In Australia, governments face a funding shortfall, which is compounded by limited funding resources (low taxes) and competing priorities. Unfortunately, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/abbott-warns-victorian-libs-no-money-for-urban-rail-20130404-2h8uj.html#ixzz30Fmd2jEb">the federal government in Australia has in some cases ceased funding public transport projects</a>. </p>
<h2>New financing resource</h2>
<p>The concept of “value capture” is being explored to help fill the hole left by the Commonwealth. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1536-7150.2006.00474.x/abstract">Value capture</a> is the appropriation of some land value gains that result from the installation of specific public infrastructure improvements in a limited benefit area, and sees part or all of these revenues used to fund the improvements.</p>
<p>Before introducing value capture financing to fund public transport, we need to know the value of uplift that occurs as a result of different public transport infrastructure. To answer this question, we have been exploring how Brisbane’s ferries have influenced property values in the city. </p>
<p>Since four CityCat ferry systems were introduced in 1996, this influential system has grown to 23 terminals, 19 CityCats and 9 mono-hulled ferries. But what effect have they had on land values?</p>
<p>Many ferry-oriented developments have been built to leverage off Brisbane’s CityCats and other ferries. Land developers have paid for part or all of the construction costs for the Regatta, Hamilton Northshore and Teneriffe terminals on the Brisbane river, to ensure ferries service their developments. </p>
<p>The challenge was to measure the effects for these ferry-oriented development areas, to see whether developers were justified in their decisions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57251/original/m7sfgm8w-1408942965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Brisbane suburb of Bulimba has benefited from the addition of a ferry terminal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Burke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are the property value effects?</h2>
<p>We used property data for much of Brisbane to see what impact the ferry terminals have on property values, and found property prices tended to increase for properties located closer to the ferry terminals. If you get one kilometre closer to the ferry terminal that is expected to increase the property price an average 4%, excluding other factors.</p>
<p>The positive effects on house prices brought about by the ferries were particularly notable at the Regatta, Bulimba and Hawthorne terminals, and to a lesser extent at Mowbray Park. This suggests the combination of suburbs with mature terminals and a decade of ferry-oriented development has positive impact on house prices or property values. There were less effects around the nearby Norman Park terminal because it is only serviced by more limited, lower-frequency cross-river services.</p>
<p>Unexpectedly our study found a fall in property values around the Guyatt Park terminal, but we think this may be explained by the Green Bridge opening from Fairfield to St Lucia, which broke the monopoly on student housing in St Lucia, and which was not included in our study. No property uplift effects were observed at Teneriffe and at Hamilton North Shore, where development is still immature. It is still too early to say what the impacts will be there.</p>
<p>The effects were more muted at locations such as West End where redevelopment opportunities have been scarce, partly due to planning controls, and at the QUT Gardens Point and University of Queensland terminals dominated by higher education land uses. </p>
<p>Many properties that benefited from ferry proximity were also high-rise apartments in the Brisbane central business district. Our research suggests that a one hundred metre decrease in the distance to the ferry stop would increase property values by between 4.9% and 13.1% in this location. This is a considerably stronger response than the 4% average increase across the broader study area.</p>
<p>Ultimately it appears property developers were justified in seeking to secure ferry terminals to service their developments. Governments may also be justified in bringing in land value capture mechanisms to help pay for terminals, vessels or operating costs in appropriate locations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara T.H. Yen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Traditional funding sources are becoming inadequate to meet public transport demands in Australian cities, despite the broad economic and social benefits public transport brings, such as cost savings associated…Barbara T.H. Yen, Research Fellow at Urban Research Program, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/296932014-08-07T20:29:38Z2014-08-07T20:29:38ZQueensland’s hot modernist architecture shows bold city vision<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55632/original/nyxmqz52-1407122029.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼￼Centenary Pool, Spring Hill, architect: James Birrell.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Birrell private collection</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When most people think of Brisbane architecture, they usually picture a <a href="https://theconversation.com/sublime-design-the-queenslander-27225">Queenslander</a>: high-set, timber-and-corrugated iron houses that are ideally suited to subtropical conditions. <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-modernism-24534">Modernism</a> fits into that picture awkwardly, as if an intruder.</p>
<p>A new exhibition at the State Library of Queensland, <a href="http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/hot-modernism">Hot Modernism: Building modern Queensland 1945-75</a>, seeks to challenge this conventional view. </p>
<p>The exhibition focuses on modernist architecture in the “Sunshine State”, particularly its southeast corner. The story it tells is of a vision that was international in inspiration, yet shaped by local conditions. It transformed the urban landscape. Whole suburbs emerged after the second world war, dotted with flat, angular or butterfly roofs, and the new houses often featured bright-coloured accents on stark geometric patterns.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55631/original/22ck978s-1407121909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55631/original/22ck978s-1407121909.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1:1 recreation of the Jacobi House (1957) in Hot Modernism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SLQ, photographer Candice Bridger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A vivid example is the <a href="http://brisbaneopenhouse.com.au/2013-buildings/jacobi-house-bld-126">Jacobi House</a> (1957), which appears in a 1:1 recreation in the exhibition (above). Its bright orange frame takes centre stage, allowing visitors to experience its modest, but transformative, pavilion design. It is also like walking into a time capsule, with modern furniture and design of the day within the Hayes and Scott design.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most conspicuous manifestation of modernist design documented in the exhibition is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_Expressway">Riverside Expressway</a> (1971-75). Its sweeping serpentine lines delineate the northern bank of the Brisbane River. It allowed the city to be experienced from a fleeting drive-by perspective for the first time. </p>
<p>This sweeping, curvilinear modernism finds many echoes, particularly James Birrell’s earlier Centenary Pool in Spring Hill (1957-60) (main image). The imposing expressway is, however, the demarcation point for those who deplore the modernist transformation and those who seek to establish a greater understanding of what it meant and strived to achieve.</p>
<h2>A fragmentary history</h2>
<p>A goal of Hot Modernism is to explain the scope and diversity of the modernist architectural ambition. The only problem is that its history in Queensland exists, as Professor of Architecture <a href="http://www.architecture.uq.edu.au/macarthur">John Macarthur</a> noted on the opening night, in a piecemeal and contested state of “conversations, traded anecdotes and memories”. </p>
<p>This fragmentary, oral history is reflected in the design of the research initiative, <a href="http://qldarch.net/beta/#/">Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture</a>, which is a major impetus behind this exhibition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55649/original/h6y9mbz8-1407130719.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55649/original/h6y9mbz8-1407130719.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The exhibition space at Hot Modernism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SLQ, photographer Candice Bridger</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The period covered, 1945-1975, was shaped by rapid population growth, accelerated car ownership, new construction materials and new ideas about how and what to build. It was also an insular, often backward-looking social-political climate never fully comfortable with cultural matters (unless they could be directly translated into money or reflected political glory); a comparatively smaller economy, which limited the prospects for architectural work; and little recognition of local, or Australian, architectural histories, even at universities.</p>
<p>The architectural story of modernism in Queensland is intertwined with the state’s social-political and urban history. Hence, the amount of detail is important to record, although, visually, this is a busy exhibition. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55645/original/8mn85xwb-1407129515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55645/original/8mn85xwb-1407129515.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Architectural drawing of La Boite Theatre, Petrie Terrace, ca. 1972, architect: Wilson Architects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wilson Architects collection</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ironically, its floor-to-ceiling style is more reminiscent of pre-modern exhibition display. There are moments when it looks like the manic by-product of the architect’s zeal for documentation and the librarian’s penchant for the minutiae of the archive. Plans, drawings, historical films and videos, models and interactives all contest for attention. </p>
<p>The show is also supplemented by reminiscences — such as the poignant interview with architect <a href="http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/farewell-to-a-legend-of-australian-architecture-bl">Blair Wilson</a>, who passed away since the exhibition opened, discussing the original La Boite Theatre in Brisbane’s Milton.</p>
<h2>Modernist subtropical design</h2>
<p>Emerging from all this detail is an architectural history independent from the narrow Sydney-Melbourne outlook; one that also breaks from narratives suggesting modernism presents a schism from the ongoing imperatives of subtropical design. </p>
<p>Hot Modernism reveals a more complex and convoluted reality. While the styles may change dramatically, key design principles of subtropical housing remain remarkably consistent: designing for climate and airflow; an emphasis on a spatial interplay between the internal and external, open and closed; and a continuity of focus on standardisation, prefabrication and building simplicity.</p>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/76388294" width="100%" height="376" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<p>It is not surprising then that the “timber and tin” tradition resurfaces in the delightfully idiosyncratic documentary (above) of the same name by Max Bannah and Kent Chadwick (1976). Examples of complex amalgamations of modernist change and tradition include Roger Heathwood’s Speare House (1959) in Indooroopilly (demolished in 1999). </p>
<p>By the time of John Railton’s Wilson House at Dickey Beach on the Sunshine Coast (1971) and Rex Addison’s acclaimed design for his own house in Taringa (1975), this complex accommodation was emerging as a distinct subtropical style and evidence of a more confident and securer sense of cultural identity. </p>
<p>Architectural loss is also a big theme. There is always a lot of hit and miss with rapid urban development. Unfortunately there was a lot of miss in the 1970s as many important buildings were demolished. The Riverside Expressway, for instance, came with the eradication of trams in Brisbane. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55652/original/4cyzch8y-1407133590.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55652/original/4cyzch8y-1407133590.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sunbakers by the pool at Lennons Broabeach Hotel, 1958, architect: Karl Langer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Oxley Library, SLQ</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Modernist buildings seem to perish without remorse. Karl Langer’s West Furniture Showroom (1953), featured in the exhibition, is now beautifully restored, but his Lennons at Broadbeach (1958) is long gone without anything terribly significant replacing it. </p>
<p>Hot Modernism seeks to draw people’s attention to this important, often overlooked, recent heritage, which is now also under threat. Until recently, Queensland has often been poor at commemorating its cultural history beyond a default position of defensive parochialism. </p>
<p>Here we see modernist designs anticipate the more confident, modern city that would eventually emerge. As Macarthur also noted on opening night:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>many of the ideas of modern architecture are possible in our climate in a way that they are not in the northern hemisphere. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The exhibition offers clues, but we may have to wait for the book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Modernism-Quennsland-Architecture-1945-1975/dp/1908967587">Hot
Modernism: Queensland Architecture 1945-1975</a> (due for release in November this year), to fully explain which ideas became possible only in the subtropics. The account will be worth waiting for!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/hot-modernism">Hot Modernism</a> continues until October 12 2014 at the State Library of Queensland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29693/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew McNamara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When most people think of Brisbane architecture, they usually picture a Queenslander: high-set, timber-and-corrugated iron houses that are ideally suited to subtropical conditions. Modernism fits into…Andrew McNamara, Professor, Head of Visual Arts, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/277452014-07-28T06:37:29Z2014-07-28T06:37:29ZPublic transport has been let down by our reluctance to pay for it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54987/original/gxy76nd5-1406514663.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C668%2C500&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stuck in the past: Sydney&#39;s rail system is crying out for investment, but Australian approaches to fares and funding are out of date.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Hale</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public transport has a problem with money. Campaigners often argue that mass transit is a public good in its own right, and hence should be very cheap or even free.</p>
<p>Mainstream media and even many self-proclaimed supporters of public transport run <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/outrage-over-brisbane-transport-fare-hike/story-e6frfmd9-1226234890104">emotional stories</a> about fare increases, while governments offer “giveaway” fare policies that severely restrict transport revenue. </p>
<p>Trains and buses are widely derided as “lower-class” forms of transport, despite being one of society’s most important enablers for economic development and social engagement.</p>
<p>Together, these lines of thinking add up to a severe lack of funding for transport in Australian cities – both in terms of infrastructure investment and operating revenues.</p>
<p>Spending on public transport is routinely delayed, while <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/billions-spent-on-roads-in-8220hideously-inefficient8221-way-20140722-zvqcg.html">urban roads are given priority</a>. Meanwhile, the fluster over fares means that operators aren’t receiving the funds they need to deliver a good service.</p>
<p>Until we face up to these issues, the struggle to provide better public transport will be an uphill battle.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50623/original/6ds5q45n-1402367131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50623/original/6ds5q45n-1402367131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Baltimore, like many US cities, is realising that buses aren’t just for poor people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Hale</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Learn from the successes</h2>
<p>What do the world’s best mass transit networks have in common? They have fare structures that let them recover <a href="http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/research/4353">a large proportion</a> (typically 75% or more) of their operating costs. </p>
<p>Designing a smart transport policy means accepting that there are limits to what governments can provide. So it’s best to use any available subsidy wisely. We should increasingly look to passengers to cover much of the cost of the transit services that benefit them directly.</p>
<p>We tend to think about fares in an illogical way. Australian <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/translink-fare-hike-to-make-brisbane-australias-most-expensive-20140103-30910.html">media reports bemoaning expensive fares</a> routinely cite the cost per trip, when they should quote the cost per kilometre. </p>
<p>For example, the much-maligned trip from the Gold Coast to Brisbane covers up to 80 km and costs A$14. Contrast that with the UK, where travelling the 71 km from London to Milton Keynes will cost you at least £18.50 (A$33.50).</p>
<p>I would suggest that Britain’s fares demonstrate a more realistic understanding of the limited resources available for funding rail travel.</p>
<h2>Huge subsidies</h2>
<p>In Australia, residents of outer suburban areas receive large subsidies for trips that would be rightly regarded as regional journeys overseas. Meanwhile, most passengers in Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne who travel short hops of just a few kilometres get little or no subsidy.</p>
<p>This unbalanced approach distorts our ability to provide better services. There is little relationship between the price of tickets and the cost per kilometre of transporting those passengers.</p>
<p>At this point the argument becomes tangled. Self-proclaimed supporters of transit bang the table and shout that outer suburban travellers need to be given perks to stop them defecting to their cars.</p>
<p>But why should someone living in Broadmeadows, 16 km north of central Melbourne, receive less subsidy than someone from Frankston, 41 km southeast of the CBD? Distance from the CBD is not a proxy for disadvantage, nor for deservedness of subsidy.</p>
<p>Disadvantage should primarily be addressed through concession fare offerings and workable transit access, not by a crude system of frittering public resources on cheaper fares for long distances.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50617/original/kvvg5byn-1402365588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50617/original/kvvg5byn-1402365588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Washington DC’s Metro is fast, efficient, and largely funded by fares.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Hale</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The real picture</h2>
<p>It would be much better to attempt to devise a fare structure based on equality of subsidy, which reflects the reality of how much it costs to provide these services.</p>
<p>These are complex questions. Successful transport networks overseas treat them as such, but our state politicians continue to play <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-budget-2014-bus-train-and-ferry-fares-to-increase-less-than-expected-20140603-zrwlj.html">immature games with ticket prices</a>.</p>
<p>Recent examples include the move towards <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/melbourne-commuters-to-see-public-transport-fares-slashed-under-napthine-plan/story-fni0fit3-1226864736211">“free” CBD travel in Melbourne</a>, where it is far from clear that a majority of users want free travel anyway.</p>
<p>The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has <a href="http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/Home/Industries/Transport/Reviews/CityRail/Review_of_fares_for_CityRail_services_from_January_2013/23_Apr_2012_-_Released_Issues_Paper/Issues_Paper_-_Review_of_fares_for_CityRail_services_from_January_2013">recommended</a> that Sydney’s train network should be paid for by passengers – largely white-collar workers who want good service rather than cheaper fares – instead of by <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/minister-says-no-rail-fare-rise-without-upgrades-20120423-1xhh1.html">the wider public</a>.</p>
<p>But still the policy discussion focuses exclusively on “affordability”, while state governments bemoan their inability to fund transport upgrades. This shows a pretty poor grasp of basic infrastructure economics.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50624/original/4bctvcfn-1402367393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50624/original/4bctvcfn-1402367393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne should ditch the general fare subsidies and offer concessions to students and other low-income groups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Hale</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If we took a better approach to transport funding, we could deliver new projects much faster and more affordably. Analysis shows that asking the beneficiaries to pay for new services (“value capture”, to use the policy jargon) can cover <a href="http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/BuildingandPlanning/FutureGrowth/ExternalProjects/Pages/MetroProjectRailLink.aspx">25-50% of project costs</a> </p>
<p>Rather than throw A$9-11 billion at a single rail project in Melbourne, why not use value capture to deliver an entire suite of generational rail upgrades?</p>
<p>This approach has worked in mega-suites such as London’s <a href="http://www.crossrail.co.uk">Crossrail</a>. In Los Angeles’ <a href="http://media.metro.net/projects_studies/30-10_highway/images/10-2085_ntc_3010_initiative_map.pdf">“30-10” initiative</a>, what was previously seen as 30 years’ worth of transport infrastructure will be delivered in around a decade.</p>
<p>Melbourne could do a “30-12” and deliver <a href="http://ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/PTV/PTV%20docs/Melbourne-Metro/MM1-Patronage-Business-Case-Dec-2010.pdf">Metro One</a>, the <a href="http://ptv.vic.gov.au/assets/PTV/PTV%20docs/Melbourne-Airport/Melbourne-Airport-Rail-Link-Study-Overview.pdf">airport link</a>, and the <a href="http://ptv.vic.gov.au/projects/rail-projects/rowville-rail-feasibility-study">Rowville</a> and <a href="http://www.doncasterrailstudy.com">Doncaster</a> rail projects in a 10-12 year program, from that same A$10 billion consolidated revenue base - with the help of alternative funding approaches.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50626/original/fqwc3pk5-1402367703.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50626/original/fqwc3pk5-1402367703.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Los Angeles is on a fast track to 30 years’ worth of new transport projects in a decade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Hale</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But this can only happen if we adopt the attitude to funding seen in many places overseas, and crucially, only if there is a genuine interest to see these rails programs realised.</p>
<p>This is where the real difficulty starts. As a specialist observer of transit projects and their funding, I believe that institutional roadblocks are our biggest problem in Australia.</p>
<p>If our leaders among government, the public service, and the transport industry didn’t actually want better mass transit, then fudging around on fare structures and capital funding options would be a really effective way to delay progress.</p>
<p>Conversely, if better transit is the biggest game in town, it’s time we got serious about it. To fix and expand our rail systems we need to get fares right and we need to diversify the funding mix - because there’s just no other way to get where we want to go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Hale operates his own consulting business and this article is his last as an academic at the University of Melbourne. He has recently contracted to Melbourne City Council on the issue of transit funding, and in years past also contracted to the Cross River Rail and Sydney Metro projects on the same topic.
He currently receives no research funding on this topic, but between 2009 and 2011 was the recipient of grants for research into mass transit funding from the Australian CRC for Rail Innovation. Chris has been the recipient of substantial in-kind support (such as access to data and availability of senior staff time) over many years on this topic from MTR of Hong Kong. </span></em></p>Public transport has a problem with money. Campaigners often argue that mass transit is a public good in its own right, and hence should be very cheap or even free. Mainstream media and even many self-proclaimed…Chris Hale, Proprietor - Hale Consulting, University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/283232014-06-29T21:25:57Z2014-06-29T21:25:57ZHosting a World Cup is nice, but the G20 could prove more lucrative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51878/original/xqjtr394-1403499569.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brisbane is set to benefit from November&#39;s G20 summit, but more work is required to boost international travel flows.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">LJ Mears/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the powerful gather for the G20 summit in Brisbane this November, the core mandate is to discuss measures to support global economic growth, including trade liberalisation, investment and infrastructure development. </p>
<p>These discussions are very important for tourism – an industry that relies on the free movement of people and goods. Issues such as lifting visa restrictions are central to the mandate of agencies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. In fact, at a time where we believe that people can travel freely wherever and whenever they like to, an astonishing 110 million international tourists – or 17% of all international arrivals – still require paper visas to be able to visit G20 countries. </p>
<p>Reducing barriers through visa requirements is essential for international tourism. Research commissioned by the <a href="http://www.wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/Impact_ASEAN.PDF">World Travel and Tourism Council</a> (WTTC) in 2014 showed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would gain between 6 to 10 million additional international tourist arrivals by 2016 if they facilitated and improved visa processes.</p>
<p>Tourism relies on safe destinations and political security, something that cannot be emphasised enough in the light of current <a href="http://www.globalconflictmap.com/">“conflict hotspots”</a> globally (including the Middle East, Ukraine, and the South China Sea). <a href="http://www.iipt.org/">Some</a> even point to tourism as a force for peace as it fosters inter-cultural understanding and friendly exchange between nations.</p>
<p>Directly, the summit leads to travel of those participating in it. What could be coined <a href="http://www.uper.org/UPER-martinotti.pdf">“political tourism”</a>, political meetings and conferences induce substantial amounts of travel. For the G20 in Brisbane it is expected that there will be about 4,000 delegates (some of whom will arrive with their families), 3,000 media, and 5,300 police from interstate and New Zealand. </p>
<p>Business tourism is often overlooked when we discuss tourism, but the <a href="http://www.wttc.org/research/policy-research/business-travel-research/">WTTC</a> established a compelling link between business travel and global trade: one third of growth in trade globally over the last ten years can be attributed to business-related travel and resulting increases in corporate productivity. WTTC’s analysis also shows that if business travel was reduced by one quarter for two consecutive years, global GDP would be 5% lower than if travel continued as normal. </p>
<p>The average business tourist in Australia spends A$280 per night, compared with a holiday visitor who spends $162.</p>
<p>Research on the economic benefit of G8 and G20 summits valued the 2009 and 2010 US and Canada summits at US$135 million and US$95.4 million respectively. The benefits measured include the immediate spending of participants and longer-term effects of increased investment, infrastructure and training. Similar numbers have been advanced as an <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/study-shows-g20-hosts-reap-the-economic-benefits-20131202-2ym6j.html#ixzz34IbfpFoa">estimate</a> for the Brisbane summit.</p>
<h2>How is Australia performing?</h2>
<p>Eleven out of Australia’s top 20 international markets are G20 members. Amongst these are key markets such as China, the US, Japan, Korea and the UK. Other G20 countries, such as Russia, Brazil or Saudi Arabia, are not yet in the top 20 markets to Australia, but are seen as promising “emerging markets”. </p>
<p>Considering many of the traditional markets to Australia have been stagnating since the global financial crisis, and emerging markets are experiencing fast growth, increasing destination awareness in these countries represents a significant opportunity. </p>
<p>But focusing on one event, and dedicating tourism infrastructure to it, may also crowd out other forms of tourism, for example leisure tourists. Research on sport mega events has found that peaks in arrivals due to the event can be followed by a “low” in visitation, because participants or spectators time their visit for the event. This may be less relevant for political summits. However there might be other risks associated with political tourism. Hosting a political summit always bears the risk of “counter-summits” and activism that might undermine the destination image. </p>
<p>From a research perspective, major events have been analysed mainly with a focus on mega-sport events, for example Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and FIFA World Cups. Political summits have received very limited attention (with <a href="http://www.cuc.ac.jp/eng/gpac/papers/snu/SNUtourism.pdf">some exceptions</a>). </p>
<p>Research to establish whether political events are different from other events, perhaps because of their political nature and the types of delegates, is yet to be undertaken, and the Brisbane G20 provides an excellent opportunity to research the economic impact of the summit, and compare it to other events hosted previously in Australia. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28323/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susanne Becken does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the powerful gather for the G20 summit in Brisbane this November, the core mandate is to discuss measures to support global economic growth, including trade liberalisation, investment and infrastructure…Susanne Becken, Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Director Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/252732014-04-16T04:46:29Z2014-04-16T04:46:29ZMurder down under: is Australia a dangerous place to visit?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45925/original/jb9grhk3-1397014338.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">IWhile the murders of Sophie Collombet and others have given prominence to the issue of violence against tourists, it is still statistically rare for a international visitor to Australia to become a murder victim.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Peled</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The murder of <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/04/02/boyfriend-helped-id-murdered-french-woman-0">French student Sophie Collombet</a> in Brisbane in late March has sparked a debate about the safety of travellers in Australia. A man has now been <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/sophie-collombet-murder-accused-remanded-in-custody-20140409-36by6.html">arrested and charged</a> with Collombet’s rape and murder, which comes not long after the murders of three other young overseas visitors, all in Brisbane.</p>
<p>After Collombet’s murder, Queensland premier Campbell Newman said overseas visitors had nothing to fear:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe it is safe not only for international students, but for Brisbane students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet there is no doubt perceptions are important. Some in the tourism industry were <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-25/tourism-boss-urges-crime-perceptions-forum/4778036">calling for high-level meetings</a> to address crime concerns even before the recent murders. But are the perceptions of violence and danger a true reflection of the reality of being an international visitor in Australia? </p>
<h2>Homicide of overseas visitors in Australia</h2>
<p>All but one of the recent murders involving international visitors have been what can be termed “stranger” murders. There was no pre-existing relationship between the victim and the killer. The murders of Collombet, 23-year-old South Korean student <a href="http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/shirtless-man-may-hold-key-bashing-murder-woman/2094534/">Eunji Ban</a> last November and another South Korean, 28-year-old <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-19/shallow-grave-found-in-brisbane-search-for-missing-korean-man/5167610">Min Tae Kim</a> in December, all involved interactions with strangers.</p>
<p>These murders have captured the public’s imagination for a number of reasons, including the similar profile of the victims (all young international visitors) and the randomness and public nature of the murders.</p>
<p>In practical terms, killings like these are much more appealing to the media than a domestic homicide between two Australian residents, for instance. Some aspects of the murders lend themselves to sensationalism and broad public appeal and interest.</p>
<p>While the random nature of the attacks that killed Collombet and Ban might be of concern, the <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/mr/21-40/mr21.html">latest data</a> on homicides in Australia (from July 2008 to June 2010) shows that only 13% are committed by strangers. You are much more likely to be killed by someone you know. </p>
<p>Also, only 25% of homicides in that period were committed on the street or open areas.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rip/21-40/rip31.html">examination</a> of homicide data by the <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/">Australian Institute of Criminology</a> showed that between 1994 and 2010, 76 international visitors were homicide victims in 58 separate incidents. These incidents include the international visitors killed by Port Arthur spree killer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur_massacre_(Australia)">Martin Bryant</a>. </p>
<p>The rate of homicide incidents involving overseas visitors from 1994–95 to 2009–10 has been decreasing year on year since 2007. In 2010, the rate was 0.46 per million international visitors.</p>
<p>However, homicide data from 2004-10 for overseas visitors does show some worrying trends. As far as location is concerned, international visitors are most likely to be killed in New South Wales or Victoria. Of the victims, 63% were of Asian origin; 23% were Caucasian. And 36% were killed by strangers, far higher than for Australian victims.</p>
<h2>The economic impact</h2>
<p>The financial impact of crimes against international visitors cannot be underestimated. Income generated by international visitors is estimated to be worth <a href="http://www.tra.gov.au/publications/latest-ivs-report.html">A$19 billion a year</a>. Some 5.9 million international visitors came to Australia in 2013.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45676/original/qhfkz6t6-1396646619.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45676/original/qhfkz6t6-1396646619.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">International education export income by state and territory, 2012-13.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Education International, Australian government</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A subset of these visitors are foreign students who study at Australian universities. In 2012-13, international education activity arising from foreign students who came to Australia to live and study contributed <a href="https://www.aei.gov.au/research/Research-Snapshots/Documents/Export%20Income%202012-13%20FY.pdf">A$14.461 billion</a> to the economy. Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria were the main beneficiaries of this lucrative market. </p>
<p>A series of attacks on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_Indians_in_Australia_controversy">Indian students</a> in 2009 and 2010 in Victoria helped contribute to a <a href="http://www.hcindia-au.org/students_guidelines.html">reduction of 66%</a> in the number of Indian students travelling to Australia to study between 2010 and 2012.</p>
<h2>Level of risk in Australia</h2>
<p>Perceptions of safety in Australia compared to other potential destinations is a deciding factor in where people will travel or study. Despite crimes such as those mentioned above, Australia is still seen as a relatively safe country compared to other nations around the world. The <a href="http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/advisories">Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs</a>, for example, still rates Australia as requiring its lowest level of security precautions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45628/original/w9tkwsh3-1396597706.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/45628/original/w9tkwsh3-1396597706.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The danger rating of countries according to Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the Indian High Commissioner to Australia <a href="http://www.hcindia-au.org/students_guidelines.html">warned</a> Indian students coming to Australia that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…there were a number of incidents of assault as well as of robbery during 2009 and 2010, which affected not only Indian students but also members of the larger Indian community in Australia. There have been racist elements in some of these incidents.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On some occasions, overseas visitors are deliberately targeted. They are seen as soft targets and also can be targeted for racist reasons. This often occurs in relation to robbery or property-related offences, seen in the past in Melbourne and on the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/teen-gangs-target-students/story-e6frgcjx-1225770025162">Gold Coast</a>.</p>
<p>A NSW government <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/agdbasev7wr/bocsar/documents/pdf/cjb43.pdf">study</a> conducted in 1997 showed that the most common offences committed against international visitors were harassment and theft. Of the international visitors surveyed, 1% experienced harassment and 0.8% experienced some form of theft. </p>
<p>A far smaller number experienced violent crime, with 0.2% experiencing assaults and 0.2% subject to robbery. </p>
<p>While the actual numbers surveyed were small, it is one of the few studies to look at crime committed against international visitors.</p>
<h2>Reality and prevention</h2>
<p>What the above information tells us is that the threat to international visitors to Australia has not increased. It is statistically rare for an international visitor to become a murder victim.</p>
<p>However, it does highlight that Australia needs to improve its education of international visitors in relation to potential risks. In particular, students studying here need to be made aware of basic crime prevention and risk-reduction strategies in their daily activities. Doing so would at least provide a foundation for defeating a random offender seeking a vulnerable victim and opportunity to offend. </p>
<p>To actively engage on this issue would go some way to combating the negative perceptions that are inevitably created by events such as Sophie Collombet’s murder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25273/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The murder of French student Sophie Collombet in Brisbane in late March has sparked a debate about the safety of travellers in Australia. A man has now been arrested and charged with Collombet’s rape and…Terry Goldsworthy, Assistant Professor, Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/244872014-03-20T19:36:29Z2014-03-20T19:36:29ZBrisbanites get to name their tunnels – but that doesn't mean they like them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44366/original/p9sc9mrb-1395290673.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The city&#39;s newly-named infrastructure project could be an underground success. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/John Pryke</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The superhero jokes started straight away. mX — the local public transport throwaway — opened its coverage of Brisbane’s newly-named BaT (Bus and Train) Tunnel with:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Na na na na na na na na BaT Tunnel!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over at <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-bat-tunnel-will-be-built-despite-financial-constraints-vows-queensland-premier-campbell-newman/story-fnii5v6w-1226859525511">News.com.au</a>, a wit ran an image of Premier Campbell Newman photoshopped as Batman and Treasurer Tim Nicholls as Robin. </p>
<p>Oddly, Newman’s jaw does bear a passing resemblance to that of 1960s caped crusader Adam West.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44368/original/hgxwbn98-1395292164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44368/original/hgxwbn98-1395292164.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Batman, Adam West, and Robin, Burt Ward.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32765246@N05/10110899854/in/photolist-gpt1gy-dZQssS-7UEpu9-7UEpvd-eAdPyu-eAdzYh-dZxQPf-a6kiGM-8fuQ4g-8fy6BC-dZxRfL-icQrhQ-8UmVKU-akhcXE-8fy6Ph-8fy6V5-eeky9C-8br5fr-fHiGMf-aiMjjY-dpzCy3-bALAnE-8pHkaR-aChjd7-gz18JT-dYQvRP-dYS89e-byR8Ky-8LESAW-dyUHKz-jphMTq-efqSqp-g3eqY5-9Zoa6e-efgE2H-9oM5Rp-icQF1k-icQfkb-arrj4K-aZ5iDg-7AuRWp-foDR5V-kJ8Kv4-9tSC5e-7NNQ3q-gyvmxQ-jaBdBv-81k1av-g3adEe-7UASE2-7UDR8y">Chris</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The denizens of Brisbane have been mildly entertained for weeks by <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/have-a-say-on-what-the-brisbane-underground-tunnel-should-be-called/story-fnihsrf2-1226850387935">a competition to name</a> the planned – but still unfunded – underground transport tunnel. </p>
<p>The tunnel <a href="http://qld.gov.au/transport/projects/bat/about/overview/index.html">will run for 5km</a> beneath the Brisbane CBD and the Brisbane River and act as a transit route for both buses and trains. From Dutton Park in the city’s south to Spring Hill in the north, spruikers of the tunnel – which now has a name, if not a funding stream – promise it will alleviate shortcomings in the city’s public transport systems. The construction phase is <a href="http://qld.gov.au/transport/projects/bat/about/timeframes/index.html">pencilled in</a> to end in 2020.</p>
<p>Nearly 1,000 suggested names for the new tunnel were thrown up by the community, but the government reserved the right to choose between them.</p>
<h2>A name for every road and bridge</h2>
<p>Public infrastructure projects and their names have become a delicate matter in the past decade as many projects have fallen short of their usage targets or cost way more than expected.</p>
<p>The competition for the name of the new tunnel followed a similar exercise in 2010 to name what eventually became the Go Between Bridge over the Milton reach of the river. The bridge celebrates the local 1980s band of almost the same name, The Go-Betweens. As singer Robert Forster <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bridge-honour-gobetweens-consult-legal-grammar-people-20100704-zvhq.html">noted at the time</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think that we got nine letters. And we lost the “s”. We couldn’t get all 10. But I think I speak on behalf of the band: we’re happy with nine.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2010 then Lord Mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman left the final name up to <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/new-brisbane-bridge-named-after-rock-band-20090929-g9jn.html">a public poll</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44367/original/dwgmk5rb-1395290871.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44367/original/dwgmk5rb-1395290871.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brisbane’s The Go-Betweens – always ready to take it to the bridge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EMI Music/AAP Image</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2014 Newman, now Premier of Queensland, was not so laissez-faire. There were <a href="https://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi/consultation/1917/view.html">guidelines</a>, including that it be no more that five words, not be an acronym, and that it must speak to the purpose of the tunnel. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/gi/consultation/1917/view.html">long list</a> was splendid – some suggestions captured local pre-occupations: Allan Border Cover Drive; the Wally Lewis Way; and the Bee Gees Tunnel. </p>
<p>Others captured more conventional local historical connections: the Thomas Petrie Tunnel (Petrie was a local grazier who had early contact with local Indigenous people); Edenglassie Tunnel (Edenglassie was the original name for the settlement that became the city); and the Parsons, Pamphlet and Finnegan Tunnel (a castaway and two local convicts who marooned in Moreton Bay in the 1820s). </p>
<p>The chosen title seemed in fact to be in breach of the guidelines precluding acronyms – but heck, BaT Tunnel was better than GoZunda, or Brisway Tunnel, or many other claimants.</p>
<h2>Hope then disappointment</h2>
<p>If the naming competition was a PR exercise, it hasn’t fully distracted the city from the continuing debate about the success or failure of major infrastructure projects in south-east Queensland over the past decade and a half. </p>
<p>In that time, as the population in the south-east corner boomed, the Brisbane River got five new bridges: the Go-Between, the Eleanor Schonell, the Kurilpa, the Goodwill, and the duplication of the Sir Leo Hielscher (Gateway Bridge). </p>
<p>The city has also completed or has underway several massive tunnel and roadway projects: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_City_Bypass,_Brisbane">Inner CityBypass</a> (completed in 2002), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busways_in_Brisbane">Busways</a> system (completed in 2011), the <a href="http://www.clem7.com.au/content/2145/Using-the-CLEM7">Clem Jones Tunnel</a> (completed 2010), <a href="https://www.airportlinkm7.com.au/">Airport Link</a> (completed 2012), and the <a href="http://transcityjv.com.au/">Legacy Way</a> that is still under construction.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44361/original/9mrz7s8y-1395290149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44361/original/9mrz7s8y-1395290149.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 4,000-tonne, $50 million boring machine drilling through the final layers of rock at Woolloongabba in Brisbane in 2009 to create the Clem7 Tunnel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/David Barbeler</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Campbell Newman, as Lord Mayor and now as Premier, is particularly identified with these projects. </p>
<p>His 2002 <a href="http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/roads-infrastructure-bikeways/tunnels-bridges-major-roads/TransApex/index.htm">TransApex</a> plan detailed five tunnels to transform what had become the difficult and laborious task of crossing the city from almost any direction. The plan was immediately controversial but <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/transapex-blinkers/story-e6frerdf-1111118005630">Newman’s promises</a> to help solve Brisbane’s traffic problems helped him get elected Mayor in 2004. </p>
<p>Four out of the five tunnels are now delivered or underway. The fifth, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East-West_Link,_Brisbane">East-West Link</a>, from Toowong to the Pacific Freeway at Buranda seems consigned to history.</p>
<p>Somewhat quixotically, Newman has pursued these high cost projects while at the same time stripping funds out of other city and state government projects. His has been an engineer’s view of the city and of development. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44364/original/33w5rxqf-1395290535.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44364/original/33w5rxqf-1395290535.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Workmen cheer after a bore machine breaks through the last wall of rock to create the first tunnel under the Brisbane, on Dec. 7, 2008.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Petrina Berr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But as with Mexico City in the 1960s – which looked to a world-leading highway system to transform the nation – things haven’t been so straightforward.</p>
<p>Two of the public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the Clem7 and the Airport Link, have ended in <a href="http://tollroadsnews.com/news/brisbane-australias-clem7-toll-tunnel-broke-after-11-months-operation---horrible-traffic-forecasts">bankruptcy</a> and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/class-action-under-way-against-engineering-groups-traffic-forecasts-for-brisbanes-airport-link-toll-road/story-e6frg6n6-1226645152881">class action</a> – as both the financing structure and the estimates of likely usage have been unrealistic. Successive state Labor governments and their former ministers have been implicated in poor structuring of these projects.</p>
<p>It is now much quicker – and much more expensive – to traverse the city. Taking the Clem7 and the Airport link together from the southside to the airport on the north is startlingly fast – saving 15 minutes of time in traffic – but costs nearly A$10 by car. </p>
<p>Patronage targets have never been met. The <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/poor-clem7-patronage-sees-rivercity-motorways-extend-discounted-tolls-until-june-30/story-e6freon6-1225862074496">projected number of vehicles</a> never travelled through the Clem7. <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/class-action-under-way-against-engineering-groups-traffic-forecasts-for-brisbanes-airport-link-toll-road/story-e6frg6n6-1226645152881">According to The Australian</a>, it was forecast that the Airport Link would carry 179,000 vehicles a day but by 2013 was only carrying 47,000 a day. </p>
<p>In many senses – not least because of the tolls that discourage their full use – they have not been embraced by the city.</p>
<p>Within the community there is an overwhelming sense of being duped and of infrastructure opportunities missed. The winners seem to have been the financiers, the political classes, and those close to government delivering the projects. </p>
<p>It seems unlikely that the <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/examining-where-brisbanes-new-bat-tunnel-would-run--and-the-cost-20140319-352en.html">multi-billion dollar BaT Tunnel project</a> will bring any actual super heroes to the rescue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24487/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Glover does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The superhero jokes started straight away. mX — the local public transport throwaway — opened its coverage of Brisbane’s newly-named BaT (Bus and Train) Tunnel with: Na na na na na na na na BaT Tunnel…Stuart Glover, Senior Lecturer, Creative Writing, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/231812014-02-26T05:10:09Z2014-02-26T05:10:09ZStreet life: how do you revive a dull urban area?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42324/original/wrt4cjfh-1393215614.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Street life helps us to pretend we&#39;re not just Pavlov’s dogging it to capitalism’s sonorous bell.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">a little tune</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sixty-six years ago, the esteemed town planner Frank Heath took a bite out of his home town of Melbourne – from a safe distance. The Melbourne Herald was interviewing Heath in London. Quite possibly causing straphangers to choke on their pipe smoke in red rattlers across the city, he told the paper: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia is 10 to 15 years behind modern thought in town development and building … We are not thinking in a big enough way – we are only heaping up difficulties for the future. Melbourne is a very dull-looking city.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Then the clincher: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why are there no roof cafes, no open street cafes in Melbourne?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Earlier this month, the Victorian State Government published a <a href="http://www.arts.vic.gov.au/Projects_Initiatives/Cultural_Infrastructure_projects/Melbourne_Arts_Precinct_Blueprint#.UvwRlkKSw1E">blueprint</a> for Melbourne’s Southbank Arts Precinct, then Danish architecture firm Gehl <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/docklands-faces-overhaul-as-gehl-report-urges-major-changes-20140212-32iet.html">proposed</a> major changes to the Melbourne Docklands. Both recommend “activating the street”. But how do you go about bringing a street to life in such a prescriptive fashion?</p>
<h2>80s and 90s street life</h2>
<p>Heath was a modernist, with all that entailed – belief in progress, technology and labour-saving devices. He lived till 1980; he might have just seen the very beginnings of Australia’s entry into the era of a genuine planning-based revival of the vital street.</p>
<p>Suddenly, pot plants, trees, chairs and tables were on the footpaths, perhaps, and even street entertainment – all the things that, for most of the 20th century, had been seen as impediments to what streets were actually meant for: ease of speedy traffic, on wheels and/ or feet. </p>
<p>The change (back) was inspired in large part by the legend of European (particularly, Mediterranean) street life and the writings of New York architectural writer <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/books/25cnd-jacobs.html?pagewanted=all">Jane Jacobs</a>, who celebrated the safe and satisfying life lived in public on the mixed-use city street. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42338/original/2p5kyxkv-1393218395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42338/original/2p5kyxkv-1393218395.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parisien street life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">zoetnet</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Streets live, die and return to life in remarkable ways. When Nicole Thibault opened her crafty second-hand shop Scrabble in the early 1990s on Ann Street in Brisbane’s West End, there was only one other business among the empty shopfronts: a gentleman’s club, The Red Garter. </p>
<p>In Ann Street she was, she says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a Lone Ranger … for at least a year then a few other shops followed suit. Silver Rocket, Kleptomania, and Blonde Venus, Bent Books, were the main ones. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the time Thibault sold her business and left, Ann Street had become desirable retail again, and the area had revived. It was still noisy and dirty, but instead of a place to drive through it was a destination. </p>
<h2>The task of human-funnelling</h2>
<p>The question is whether such stories are just component parts of an organic, demographic ebb and flow, or whether successful – that is, vibrant and attractive – streets can be made or remade. </p>
<p>Drop into any major planned housing precinct – Springfield near Brisbane or Craigieburn in Melbourne’s north – and you’ll find the main shopping strip is designed to a human-scaled template, to encourage interaction, rest stops among street plantings, coffee breaks and quiet contemplation (or, at least, window shopping). </p>
<p>Whether such blatant stabs at human-funnelling can ever really work is surely down to luck, happy accidents and geography – the last two basically no more than two more different kinds of luck. </p>
<p>Yet it is often the fervent wish of retailers, city burghers and citizens that their main street, be it in a central business district or a prominent suburb, be brought to life in a manner that seems to fly the flag for a new wave not only of prosperity in itself but also diversity, variety, quirkiness even … and maybe ultimately just interestingness. </p>
<p>The main shopping street presents a thorny problem because it is by definition a public space that needs people all the time – and a constantly renewing river of people – but it also needs certain areas to be marked out and set aside for certain functions. </p>
<p>Antisocial behavior has to be policed, and indeed social behavior – stopping to chat – can in many instances be problematic, because it disturbs the flow, however delightfully. </p>
<p>The perpetrators/ creators of shopping malls streamlined the customer delivery process perfectly, only to be told that customers had changed: now, they were looking for a simile of a bohemian village or a low-rise shopping experience. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42325/original/bmbyjkjn-1393216117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42325/original/bmbyjkjn-1393216117.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sydney Road Street Party, Brunswick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tayser</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Elevated by the city</h2>
<p>When I visited Queensland’s <a href="http://www.greaterspringfield.com.au/index.php">Springfield</a> in 2011, the main shopping street ended in a billboard promising a lot more than the large mound of earth it was built to mask. Streets tend to work best when they go somewhere, even though most of the people using them won’t actually go where the street’s going. </p>
<p>Instead, users thrive on the passing show of automobile traffic and the spectacle of each other. They’ll often, in fact, regard the automobiles with contempt: I have spent a lot of time on major shopping streets of both Sydney and Melbourne (I’m thinking King Street, Newtown and Sydney Road, Brunswick/ Coburg), each the beginning of a major highway heading to the other major city of Australia. I’ve noticed there is a cavalier, and proprietorial, attitude among users of both. </p>
<p>People will blithely wander into traffic to get to the other side of the road, and the attitude seems to be (this was certainly how I felt when I used to do it) that the road isn’t for those cars passing through. It’s for the everyday local user, and sheer will throws up a forcefield to prevent any harm from the sometimes crawling, sometimes unpredictable stop-start, local traffic. </p>
<p>Perhaps that, then, is the secret to an effective street: the sense (not necessary an illusion) that one is part of something bigger, that while on the one hand one is merely participating in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fl%C3%A2neur">flaneurie</a> (the act of strolling), one is also part of the larger city organism, not just camping out in a backwater cul-de-sac. </p>
<p>Surely the key to designing a vibrant street is incorporation into major developments or impressive backdrops. But an “impressive backdrop” is not just physical. </p>
<p>Streets can also be designed around cultural (ethnic or otherwise) hotspots or any other reason to make us think we’re not just Pavlov’s dogging it to capitalism’s sonorous bell, but also experiencing – in peripheral vision, in cross-cultural, cross-class encounters, and in atmosphere – something elevating and even educational. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23181/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Nichols does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sixty-six years ago, the esteemed town planner Frank Heath took a bite out of his home town of Melbourne – from a safe distance. The Melbourne Herald was interviewing Heath in London. Quite possibly causing…David Nichols, Lecturer - Urban Planning, University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/193812013-10-23T01:06:50Z2013-10-23T01:06:50ZWhat firefighters say about climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33465/original/7dh49ztm-1382425572.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Firefighters have plenty of ideas about disaster management - so why don&#39;t we listen? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Himbrechts</span></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>You do not find many climate change sceptics on the end of [fire] hoses anymore… They are dealing with increasing numbers of fires, increasing rainfall events, increasing storm events. – A senior Victorian fire officer, interviewed in 2012 for a recent <a href="http://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/files/attached_files_publications/Howes_2013_Rethinking_disaster_risk_management.pdf">National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility report</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There have been fierce arguments this week about whether it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-place-for-politeness-when-youre-fighting-a-fire-19370">opportunistic to discuss climate change</a> in connection to the devastating New South Wales fires. Amid all the bluster, it’s surprising that we’ve heard so little from one group of experts: frontline emergency service workers, including the firefighters risking their lives for the rest of us.</p>
<p>Yet if you do ask for their opinion - as <a href="http://www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/rethinking-disaster-risk-management-adaptation">we did for a study</a> released in June this year - many, like the senior fire officer quoted above, are not reluctant to talk about climate change. In fact, quite a few of the emergency workers and planners we interviewed said we should be talking about it more, if our communities are to be better prepared for disasters like the one unfolding in NSW right now.</p>
<h2>Prepare for the worst, hope for the best</h2>
<p>In 2012-13, I led a joint research team from Griffith and RMIT to prepare a report for the <a href="http://www.nccarf.edu.au/">National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility</a> (NCCARF) on <a href="http://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/files/attached_files_publications/Howes_2013_Rethinking_disaster_risk_management.pdf">disaster risk management and climate change</a>. </p>
<p>To do so, we compared the emergency responses to Victoria’s <a href="http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/commission-reports/final-report">2009 Black Saturday bushfires</a>, the <a href="http://www.publicsector.wa.gov.au/public-administration/sector-performance-and-oversight/reviews-investigations-and-special-inquiries/special-inquiries/perth-hills-bushfire-inquiry">2011 Perth hills bushfires</a>, and the <a href="http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/11698/QFCI-Final-Report-March-2012.pdf">2011 Brisbane floods</a>. </p>
<p>We started by comparing the official inquiry reports into these events to the relevant research on disaster risk management. This was followed up by interviews with 22 experts from Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, including nine fire officers, five emergency services workers, and eight assorted planners or policy officers. The proposals that emerged were then reviewed at a set of workshops. </p>
<p>One of the most interesting things we found in talking to the emergency service workers was an overwhelming acceptance and concern that climate change was already affecting Australia, based on their personal experiences with disasters. </p>
<p>As a Western Australian fire officer told our research team, we need to “get the scientists, who have a lot to share about climate change and climate change adaptation, talking to the operational people” - a suggestion backed by many of our interviewees.</p>
<h2>Preventing future emergencies</h2>
<p>Our report was not the first time that firefighters and other emergency workers have spoken out about climate change.</p>
<p>For instance, earlier this year it was reported that <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/new-suburbs-warming-climate-to-lift-fire-risk-report-finds-20130220-2eqb7.html">the United Firefighters Union released research</a> by the <a href="http://www.nieir.com.au/">National Institute of Economic and Industry Research</a> that found almost 2 million Australians were relying largely on volunteer fire brigades to protect them and A$500 billion in assets.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/new-suburbs-warming-climate-to-lift-fire-risk-report-finds-20130220-2eqb7.html#ixzz2iQ8pDNL5">same article</a> referred to research from the <a href="http://www.cawcr.gov.au/">Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research</a>, a collaboration between the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, on how the fire season across much of south-eastern Australia appeared to be going on for longer.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ggtg1dPQKN4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Australian emergency services workers explain why they joined Run for a Safe Climate.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In November 2009, <a href="http://www.runforasafeclimate.org/">25 firefighters, paramedics, police, military and emergency services workers</a> spent nearly a month running 6000 kilometres from Cooktown in Queensland to Adelaide and back to Melbourne, speaking to communities along the way about their concerns about climate change. Many of them had worked in <a href="http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/finaldocuments/summary/pf/vbrc_summary_pf.pdf">the Black Saturday firestorm</a>, in which 173 people died, as well as the record-breaking heatwave beforehand that <a href="http://www.health.vic.gov.au/environment/heatwaves-publications.htm">health experts estimated killed more than twice</a> as many people as the fires.</p>
<p>In the same year, the <a href="http://www.ufua.asn.au/267.html">United Firefighters Union’s national secretary wrote</a> to then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On behalf of more than 13,000 firefighters and support staff in Australia, I write this open letter to request a review of Australia’s fire risk… As we battle blazes here in Victoria, firefighters are busy rescuing people from floods in Queensland. Without a massive turnaround in policies, aside from the tragic loss of life and property, we will be asking firefighters to put themselves at an unacceptable risk. </p>
<p>Firefighters know that it is better to prevent an emergency than to have to rescue people from it, and we urge state and federal governments to follow scientific advice and keep firefighters and the community safe by halving the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Lessons to be learnt</h2>
<p>So what can we learn from listening to firefighters and other emergency services workers about how to be better prepared for future disasters?</p>
<p>Our study’s main aim was to come up with a set of practical changes based on those expert views on how to better integrate climate change adaptation into disaster management programs.</p>
<p>One suggestion was to set up a permanent fund, based on the success of <a href="http://www.daff.gov.au/natural-resources/landcare">Landcare</a>. Anyone from government or the community might form a group and bid for money to tackle a particular issue, such as replanting local wetlands to reduce the impacts of flooding.</p>
<p>Another proposal was to set aside some local government funding to set up community resilience grants. Residents would be able to apply to their local council to fund projects, such as creating a network of people ready to assist elderly neighbours in times of bushfires or floods. Locals could even vote in town hall meetings on which proposals their council should fund. </p>
<p>Whatever we do, if we want to handle disasters better in the future, our frontline emergency workers have plenty of ideas to offer - if we’re ready to listen to what they say.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Howes received funding from the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility in 2012.</span></em></p>You do not find many climate change sceptics on the end of [fire] hoses anymore… They are dealing with increasing numbers of fires, increasing rainfall events, increasing storm events. – A senior Victorian…Michael Howes, Senior Lecturer in Sustainability and Environmental Policy, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.